Increasing sustainable tourism through social entrepreneurship
本文通过案例研究探讨社会创业与可持续旅游的联系，发现加拿大酒店旅游业的社会创业项目有限，并提出通过国家激励计划促进行业可持续发展。
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the link between social entrepreneurship and sustainable tourism and to examine the Canadian context in this regard. Design/methodology/approach The methodology entails a case study approach that includes a thorough review of the related literature and of any existing Canadian sources of hospitality and tourism social entrepreneurship/intrapreneurship projects to determine the state of the Canadian industry with respect to sustainability. Findings Findings show that there are limited showcased hospitality and tourism social entrepreneurship projects in Canada. Two main assumptions related to the Canadian context can be drawn from this search: (1) There is a lack of hospitality and tourism social entrepreneurship projects and/or, (2) hospitality and tourism social entrepreneurship projects and/or businesses are not recognized and/or there is a lack of awareness of them. Research limitations/implications This study assessed the situation in Canada and although it was comprehensive under conditions of limited data availability, it cannot speak to social entrepreneurship in sustainable hospitality and tourism globally, which is a future research opportunity. Practical implications The design of a national incentive program would encourage industry sustainability through tax breaks. This voluntary system would require that firms provide standardized annual reports with their tax filings so that reliable industry data could be collected for analysis and understanding of the sustainability of the industry. Participating firms would be distinguished on a public list. Originality/value This research has theorized on the connection of social entrepreneurship to sustainable hospitality and tourism such that social entrepreneurship drives sustainable industry growth. This is also the first study of its kind to explore social entrepreneurship’s potential contribution to the sustainability of this industry.