Introduction

Abstract

The introduction presents the main objectives and themes that have been developed in the book. The manuscript aims at offering a contribution to the ongoing debate about sustainable development in tourism, in particular by studying two phenomena able to support it: responsible tourism and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). After having clarified the definitions of responsible tourism, of related forms of tourism and of CSR provided by the international community, the book concentrates on the analysis of reporting systems for assessing the responsibility of tourism companies. This research effort is based on the belief that reporting programmes represent an important tool for encouraging responsible behaviour by both tourism businesses and tourists. The study develops a qualitative and quantitative analysis of reporting systems available at European level, measures their effectiveness and discusses the main issues met by companies in implementing them.