Publications by year
In Press
Dinan C (In Press). A marketing geography of sustainable tourism.
Coles TE, Fenclova E (In Press). Tourism and Corporate Social Responsibility: a Critical Review and Research Agenda.
Tourism ManagementAbstract:
Tourism and Corporate Social Responsibility: a Critical Review and Research Agenda
This paper presents a critical review of recent progress in research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in tourism management, and possible directions for future research. In comparison to a well-established, empirically-grounded body of knowledge dealing with other sectors of economic activity, dedicated research on CSR in tourism is at a relatively early stage. In the past decade, CSR has been the primary subject of a limited number of studies from a small academic community of practice. Studies have primarily focused on the three topics of implementation, the economic rationale for acting more responsibly, and the social relations of CSR. Interest in responsibility as an approach to tourism governance and management is nevertheless growing as several policy prescriptions and corporate vision statements reveal. For research to progress further and to match these ambitions, greater critical engagement with mainstream thinking on CSR is required as well as greater conceptual and methodological sophistication.
Abstract.
2016
Coles TE, Warren N, Borden DS, Dinan C (2016). Business Models among SMTEs: identifying attitudes to environmental costs and their implications for sustainable tourism.
Journal of Sustainable Tourism DOI.
Coles TE, Dinan C, Warren N (2016). Carbon Villains? Climate Change Responses among
Accommodation Providers in Historic Premises.
Journal of Heritage Tourism,
11(1), 25-42.
Abstract:
Carbon Villains? Climate Change Responses among
Accommodation Providers in Historic Premises
Building stock is a major anthropogenic source of emissions contributing to global warming. Older buildings are conventionally portrayed as performing worse environmentally than more recent
buildings. For a sector like tourism, which relies heavily on historic building stock, this raises questions about its ability to contribute to emissions reductions moving forward. This paper explores the relationship between the age and environmental performance of historic premises for small accommodation businesses in South West England, first by correlation analysis and then three extensive case-studies. It argues that the failure to integrate heritage buildings in tourism scholarship on climate change is a major lacuna. Empirically, no statistically significant relationship is found between environmental performance and the date when the original premises were first built. Far from being carbon villains, several ccommodation providers in older premises perform very well against environmental benchmarking schemes. Three types of heritage accommodation providers are identified on the basis of their perceived and actual levels of environmental performance. The paper concludes that heritage building stock of itself is no impediment to action on climate change. Guidance to tourism businesses in such properties should make them aware of this, and provide tailored advice to help them realise potential opportunities.
Abstract.
DOI.
Coles TE, Dinan C, Warren N (2016). Energy Practices among Small- and Medium-sized Tourism Enterprises: a Case of Misdirected Effort?.
Journal of Cleaner Production,
111(B), 399-408.
Abstract:
Energy Practices among Small- and Medium-sized Tourism Enterprises: a Case of Misdirected Effort?
Discussion of sustainable tourism has become dominated by the issue of climate change. As a major source of emissions, the tourism sector has a vital role to play in efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change. Within the current body of knowledge and among major policy discourses, the prevailing paradigm has been
to encourage action: reduced emissions will follow innovations in managerial practices and the uptake of the latest, most resource-efficient technologies. This paper examines energy practices among small- and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs), reporting empirical research conducted as part of a five-year
programme. Although energy was a significant cost of production, it did not feature prominently in the business administration of most SMTEs. A major knowledge gap was exposed regarding how energy was consumed and administered by individual businesses. The paper argues for a major shift in thinking away from the number of actions as the key success criterion. Action alone is no guarantee of
emissions reductions in a sector where growth is the dominant imperative. Instead, a crucial reorientation towards stimulating higher levels of energy literacy among SMTEs is necessary in parallel to rebalancing of attention towards energy generation.
Abstract.
DOI.
2015
Coles TE, Dinan CR, Warren N (2015). Climate change mitigation and the age of tourism accommodation buildings:. a UK perspective.
Journal of Sustainable Tourism,
23(6), 900-921.
Abstract:
Climate change mitigation and the age of tourism accommodation buildings:. a UK perspective.
Recent research on climate change mitigation has emphasized decision-making within tourism businesses is vital for sustainable futures. However, there has been little consideration of how the age of buildings and (historic) property frames, modifies or constrains the sector’s response to climate change. Through surveys of accommodation providers in South-West England, this paper explores relationships between property age, energy performance and pro-environmental innovations requiring adjustment to the fabric of buildings. Findings are presented from empirical research with small- and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs) occupying properties often well over a century old. This paper’s large-scale dataset and series of intensive case-histories demonstrates that property age does not play a straightforward role in encouraging or hindering efforts among accommodation providers to tackle climate change. Some (but not all) businesses with the oldest buildings performed and responded strongest, successfully introducing the latest renewable energy technologies, although adapting older buildings was not without complications and cost implications. Conceptually, this research points to the limits of calls for greater pro-environmental behaviour change without clearer understanding of the contexts and settings in which such behaviour takes place. Its findings are important to heritage based destinations worldwide: accommodation in heritage buildings can be a unique selling point.
Abstract.
DOI.
Coles TE, Fenclova E, Dinan CR (2015). Tourism and corporate social responsibility. In Hall CM, Gossling S, Scott D (Eds.)
The Routledge Handbook of Tourism and Sustainability, Abingdon: Routledge, 270-279.
Abstract:
Tourism and corporate social responsibility
Abstract.
2014
Coles TE, Zschiegner A-K, Dinan CR (2014). A cluster analysis of climate change mitigation behaviours among SMTEs.
Tourism Geographies: an international journal of tourism place, space and the environment,
16(3), 382-399.
Abstract:
A cluster analysis of climate change mitigation behaviours among SMTEs
Research on tourism and climate change has emphasised the contribution that the sector should make to the effort to reduce and stabilise greenhouse gas emissions. However the tourism sector response on the supply side has been disappointing and highly variable between and within its sub-sectors. This paper addresses the knowledge gap on the willingness and capacity for tourism businesses to mitigate. Innovation is used as the conceptual framework. At the firm level, mitigation requires innovation yet businesses innovate at different rates and hence their ability to contribute towards emissions reductions varies. A Cluster Analysis is presented of over 400 accommodation providers from Southwest England, a major UK destination region. Three distinctive clusters of SMTEs are identified based on how they innovated to mitigate climate change. The smallest (12%) had introduced a range of process and managerial innovations and was most forward-thinking and active. A second cluster (23%) had introduced several process innovations but its approach to managerial innovations was both partial and confused. The largest cluster (65%) had mainly enacted straightforward process innovations but failed to introduce managerial innovations to measure, monitor and act on their environmental performance. Taken together, these data suggest. that the contribution from accommodation providers to emissions reductions targets has been at best modest. Moving forward, greater analytical precision is needed if (this part of) the tourism sector is to be widely mobilised towards tackling climate change. Specifically, policy interventions have to be more effectively targeted at business needs and based on a more differentiated view of planned and enacted behaviour changes. One-size-fits-all prescriptions are inappropriate, arguably even counter-productive for encouraging the greatest level of mitigation activity across the widest range of tourism businesses.
Abstract.
DOI.
Coles TE, Fencolva E, Dinan C (2014). Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting among European Low-Fares Airlines: Challenges for the Examination and Development of Sustainable Mobilities.
Journal of Sustainable Tourism,
22(1), 69-88.
Abstract:
Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting among European Low-Fares Airlines: Challenges for the Examination and Development of Sustainable Mobilities
This paper examines corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices among the growing Low-Fares Airlines (LFAs) flying between mainland Europe and the UK. A mixed methods approach was employed combining a content analysis of 22 airlines’ documentation with key-informant interviews with 11 airlines including three of the four market leading LFAs. The research discovered evidence that LFAs were aware of the need to act more responsibly but how far intentions resulted in action was difficult to establish. To date the examination of LFAs has relied heavily on secondary sources and perspectives external to the firm. The firms’ own CSR-related texts do not represent a reliable basis for examining responsibility among LFAs; they have a high degree of fragmentation and variable quality. In-depth interviews showed that while there is more CSR activity than is made public, incomplete knowledge was a more significant problem than bias or spin. Very few LFAs had conducted a systemic audit of CSR-related activity. Integrative approaches are required to overcome the limitations of single methods, to contribute towards a fuller understanding of responsibility among LFAs, and to inform debate on whether it is necessary to regulate in order to encourage sustainable development in this high growth sector.
Abstract.
DOI.
Coles TE, Dinan CR, Hutchison, FC (2014). Tourism and the Public Sector in England since 2010:. a Disorderly Transition?.
Current Issues in Tourism,
17(3), 247-279.
Abstract:
Tourism and the Public Sector in England since 2010:. a Disorderly Transition?
The recent financial crisis has reconfigured tourism production and consumption. Many states have cut public spending to reduce deficits. However, there has been no analysis of the nature, extent or outcomes of such changes to state support for, or mediation of, the tourism sector. This paper examines how reforms since the Coalition Government came to power in May 2010 have impacted on tourism governance and administration in England, and how they have been experienced as they have been unfolding. This paper argues, more generally, for a greater appreciation of sense-making in critical studies of tourism and public policy. More specifically, rapid reforms to the preferred nature and scale of state intervention have had destabilising effects. New localism, sub-regional bodies, and a desire in central government to reduce public contributions to a minimum have introduced complexity and uncertainty to a previously ordered and understood system. The implications are that these reforms may frustrate other national policy aspirations they are intended to facilitate. As it is likely that other states will also downgrade their support for tourism in response to the crisis, the paper points to the importance of developing a deeper understandings of what happens as public sector support is withdrawn.
Abstract.
DOI.
2013
Coles TE, Zschiegner A-K, Dinan CR (2013). Climate change mitigation policy and the tourism sector: perspectives from the South West of England.
Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events,
5(1), 1-27.
Abstract:
Climate change mitigation policy and the tourism sector: perspectives from the South West of England.
Climate change is one of the major challenges of our times and state intervention has been identified as a critical success factor in attempts to tackle it. This paper critically explores the reciprocal relationship between climate change policy and the tourism sector in the United Kingdom. It examines on the extent to which current mitigation activities within accommodation businesses in the South West of England reflect recent UK policy on climate change as well as the prospects of the tourism sector contributing to the delivery of the state’s aspirations in this area. Among tourism businesses there has been weak recognition of, and direct response to, recent policy UK initiatives and their associated instruments. If the tourism sector is to make a greater contribution to abating climate change, policy-making must progress from generic prescriptions towards a more nuanced approach that recognizes and addresses the particularities within key economic sectors such as tourism.
Abstract.
DOI.
2012
Coles TE, Dinan CR, Hutchison FC (2012). May we live in less interesting times?. Changing public sector support for tourism in England during the Sovereign Debt Crisis.
Journal of Destination Marketing and Management,
1-2, 4-7.
Abstract:
May we live in less interesting times?. Changing public sector support for tourism in England during the Sovereign Debt Crisis
This Regional Spotlight focuses on recent changes in public sector support for tourism in England since the Coalition Government was elected in 2010. It focuses on some of the early consequences of stripping away the long-established regional layer of tourism administration and its replacement with more flexible sub-regional arrangements of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and Destination
Management Organisations (DMOs). Policy extols the importance of reaping the rewards of the 2012 Olympics, but the recent changes in tourism administration challenge this by creating great uncertainty and by putting responsibility for delivery in the hands of multiple quasi-independent, non-government bodies.
Abstract.
DOI.
2011
Coles TE, Zschiegner AK (2011). Climate change mitigation among accommodation providers in the South West of England: comparisons between members and non-members of networks.
Tourism and Hospitality Research,
11(2), 117-132.
Abstract:
Climate change mitigation among accommodation providers in the South West of England: comparisons between members and non-members of networks
Networks are a well-established feature in contemporary tourism governance and management. This paper examines the extent to which there are differences among members and non-members of tourism networks in their efforts to introduce measures to mitigate the effects of climate change in their operations. Among accommodation providers in the South West of England, there is no significant difference between members and non-members of networks in the modest levels of innovation they have introduced. This is not to suggest that networks lack importance. Formal networks appear to provide an ideal platform if messages are promoted more carefully. Rather the paper
argues their importance may also lie 'beyond the network'. A fuller appreciation of their role in mediating sustainable tourism is only possible by considering the dynamics of membership and hence the potential for knowledge spillovers, boundary spanning behaviour, and the mediation of additional informal networks.
Abstract.
DOI.
Coles TE, Fenclova E, Dinan CR (2011). Responsibilities, recession and the tourism sector:. perspectives on CSR among low-fares airlines during the economic downturn in the United Kingdom.
Current Issues in Tourism,
14(6), 519-536.
Abstract:
Responsibilities, recession and the tourism sector:. perspectives on CSR among low-fares airlines during the economic downturn in the United Kingdom
Responsibility has featured prominently in recent discussions about tourism governance. Nevertheless, research into corporate social
responsibility (CSR) among travel and tourism businesses is at a relatively early stage. This paper reports on external stakeholders’ perceptions of CSR among low-fares airlines (LFAs) in peripheral regions of the United Kingdom in late 2008; that is, during the
current global economic downturn. LFAs, their business plans and their ability to contribute towards sustainable development has been the source of much public discourse and media scrutiny in the last decade. This paper does not set out to reopen that debate per se. Rather it contributes to a deeper understanding of CSR in the tourism sector by arguing for a more nuanced approach to external stakeholders, one which is also informed by primary empirical
research from qualitative sources, and which is conceptually informed by the latest thinking from other sectors of economic activity. Important inter-regional variations exist in external stakeholders’ perceptions and valorisations of CSR, they are context-specific, and they are not static as their responses to the recent downturn reveal.
Abstract.
DOI.
2003
Dinan C (2003). Sustainable Tourism Management – how to make it work. British Tourist Authority.
Dinan C (2003). The Guide. (5).
Dinan C (2003). The future is green: visitor attitudes towards sustainable tourism management. British Tourist Authority.
2002
Dinan C (2002). The future. (6).
Dinan C (2002). Turning the tide: renewing the UK’s coastal destinations, Sea Changes: making it happen.
2001
Dinan C (2001). National sustainable tourism indicators, Monitoring progress towards sustainable tourism in England. ETC.
Tyler D, Dinan C (2001). The role of interested groups in England’s emerging tourism policy network. Tourism Policy Making: Theory and Practice, 4(2-4), 210-252.
Dinan C (2001). Time for Action. ETC.
2000
Dinan C, Sargeant A (2000). Social Marketing and Sustainable Tourism is there a match?. International Journal of Tourism Research, 2(1), 1-14.
