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The ‘greening’ of tourism micro‐businesses: outcomes of focus group investigations in South East Cornwall

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  • Jon Vernon
  • Stephen Essex
  • David Pinder
  • Kaja Curry

Abstract

The response of micro‐businesses to sustainability issues, and their use of environmental management tools and systems, are often presented as simply scaled‐down versions of those of larger businesses in the small and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) sector as a whole. This paper presents the findings of a series of focus groups with the owners of tourism micro‐businesses in South East Cornwall about their awareness, understanding and adoption of sustainable tourism practices. The results reveal a complex and diverse response to the concept that resists such generalizations. A genuine need for measures to increase awareness and integrate sustainability issues within business practice is highlighted. Initiatives that do not account for the heterogeneity of the sector are likely to have only limited success. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Jon Vernon & Stephen Essex & David Pinder & Kaja Curry, 2003. "The ‘greening’ of tourism micro‐businesses: outcomes of focus group investigations in South East Cornwall," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(1), pages 49-69, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:12:y:2003:i:1:p:49-69
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.348
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Tindara Abbate & Angelo Presenza & Milena Viassone, 2017. "The development of sustainable tourism through market-based sources of innovation in the "albergo diffuso"," MERCATI & COMPETITIVIT?, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(3), pages 41-60.
    2. Axenbeck, Janna, 2019. "Environmental innovation and firm profitability: An analysis with respect to firm size," ZEW Discussion Papers 19-033, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    3. Jung-Fa Tsai & Phi-Hung Nguyen & Ming-Hua Lin & Duy-Van Nguyen & Hsu-Hao Lin & Anh-Tuan Ngo, 2021. "Impacts of Environmental Certificate and Pollution Abatement Equipment on SMEs’ Performance: An Empirical Case in Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-17, August.
    4. Ana Ispas & Elena Nicoleta Untaru & Adina Nicoleta Candrea, 2019. "Environmental Management Practices within Agritourism Boarding Houses in Romania: A Qualitative Study Among Managers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-25, July.

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