Management of tourism sustainability in Portuguese companies

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Abstract

The growing concern with sustainability and available resources leads tourism companies to give importance to the management of this area. For a perfect vision, the pillars of sustainability need to be in harmony, but research is scarce. This study is the result of an exploratory investigation, which starts from a broad literature review about corporate sustainability, management, and tourism. The objective of the investigation is to contribute to filling gaps in knowledge about the sustainability of tourism businesses and their implementation, exposing hypotheses that will answer the initial question about the existence of a relationship between sustainability and business dynamics. Based on the literature review, reflections arise about the theme that raises fundamental questions and their analysis led to the application of the quantitative method through an online survey having obtained a collection of 412 responses from entrepreneurs linked to sustainability in tourism, entrepreneurs, and company managers in Portugal allowing to obtain comparable data, universal, and subject to quantitative analysis, associated with an intentional sampling method. Empirical results demonstrate the urgency of change, awareness of sustainability in companies, and the intention to generate success, investing in a better world. The article contributes to the understanding of how to manage companies with a holistic view, having the pillars of sustainability in harmony, leading to financial success. The recommendations are based on the results obtained so that management is proactive, leading to a change in corporate governance, and the concern with the search for new approaches paves the way for new research.

Keywords: Tourism, Business Administration, Corporate Sustainability, Tourism Economics, Growth, Government

Authors’ individual contribution: The Author is responsible for all the contributions to the paper according to CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) standards.

Declaration of conflicting interests: The Author declares that there is no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements: The Author wants to thank the University of Lisbon and the Center for Research, Development, and Innovation in Tourism and all the professors for the high quality of the teaching offered and for being open making it possible to investigate out-of-the-box topics that interconnect with the Author’s area of training and path in life.

JEL Classification: H11, M1, O4, Z3

Received: 31.10.2022
Accepted: 30.12.2022
Published online: 04.01.2023

How to cite this paper: Silvestre Graça, A. M. (2022). Management of tourism sustainability in Portuguese companies. Risk Governance and Control: Financial Markets & Institutions, 12(4), 78–89. https://doi.org/10.22495/rgcv12i4p6