Clearly, the impact of business travel and tourism is not the same in every destination. The following factors help to identify some of the factors that will affect the scale of impacts in a destination:
- Who owns the hotels, transport operators, etc. Are they locals or outsiders?
- The size of the destination in terms of geographical area and population size
- The population structure and the nature of the society in the destination
- Government policy towards business tourism in the destination
- The level of economic development and the state of the economy in the destination
- The infrastructure in the destination in terms of its quantity and quality
- What proportion of the business tourists come from foreign and/or richer countries or cities
- The contribution which business tourism makes to the local economy other economic activities vis-à-vis
- The main types of business tourism which the destination attracts
Not only do these factors influence the scale of impacts. They also determine if the impacts are likely to be more positive or more negative.
| Destination A | Destination 2 | |
| A large successful city with a booming economy in a developed country Most hotels and conference centres are primarily owned by local entrepreneurs and most staff are locals The season Is all year round as the city enjoys a good climate in every season | A small destination backed by mountains with a largely poor resident population, in a developing country The government has spent $100 million dollars on a new convention centre. Poor education levels mean that new staff in the convention centre are in-migrants The convention centre brings in conference delegates from rich countries looking for luxury at a low price The season is very short because for six months each year the climate is very bad | |
 Very positive impact
| Very negative impact | |
| Most business tourists coming to the destination are from other cities in the same country and speak the same language The business tourists make great use of local attractions and facilities during their stay Most tax income from business tourism is a sales tax and hotel tax which goes directly to the local government The city is located on aflat plain and is expanding on a planned basis, within strict environmental protection laws Most business travellers are richer than the locals and are ignorant of the local language | The public utilities are already overwhelmed by demand before the business tourists arrive Most business tourists rarely leave the convention centre or hotel during their stay The tax income from the business travellers largely goes to the central government in the national capital Tourists arrive on foreign airlines Because the site of the resort is geographically constrained by the mountains, the hotels are high rise and the airport is very close to a poor residential district |
Towards more sustainable forms of business travel and tourism
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Along with its positive side, business travel and tourism has a number of significant negative impacts.
In recent years some progress has been made in the air transport field. Airlines have introduced quieter, more fuel efficient aircraft in the wake of tighter international regulations and many now have comprehensive environmental management systems covering their ground operations. Hotels too, inspired by the desire to reduce costs, have also taken action to reduce the negative effects of their operations on the environment.
However, what we may describe as the ‘mainstream’ business tourism industry –conference and exhibition centres and incentive travel, for example, – have shown little apparent interest in environmental issues. At the same time little attention has been paid to the social impacts of business travel and tourism by any sector. Likewise no real concern has been expressed over the economic costs of business tourism. Instead, there has been a concentration on its economic benefits.
If the industry does not prove it can regulate itself and adopt a more responsible attitude towards its impacts, then some form of regulation may be required. The industry cannot simply rely on the actions of its ‘suppliers’ such as airlines and hotels, it must take responsibility itself for its effects.
It is necessary to recognize that some of the negative impacts of business tourism, while they can be reduced, will not be eliminated. They are the inevitable result of the mere act of travelling. Aircraft, for example, will truly never be neutral in terms of their environmental impacts, and rich business travellers will always cause resentment among some poorer people in their destinations.
If we want to make business travel and tourism more sustainable, we have to recognize that there are characteristics of business tourism which make it particularly problematic in relation to the concept of sustainable tourism. First, most business tourists take more trips in a year than the average leisure tourist, thus making more demands on transport infrastructure and destination services. Business tourists tend to be very demanding and want high-quality facilities, even in towns and cities in developing countries. While both of these are difficult to reconcile with the concept of sustainable tourism, the positive side of business tourism is the fact that business travellers tend to be higher spending than leisure tourists (Swarbrooke, 1999).
Therefore, we have to endeavour to minimize the costs, and maximize the benefits, of business travel and tourism through better management in the transport sector and in the destination.
There is a need to:
- persuade the business tourist to use public, rather than private, transport whenever possible
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- educate business travellers about the social problems caused in destinations by prostitution and about the risks to their own health involved in having sex with prostitutes
- make business travellers aware of the need to spend their money with local enterprises rather than with externally based multinational corporations, wherever possible
- encourage business tourists to welcome local cultural differences rather than searching for familiar but ‘foreign’ products and services (Swarbrooke, 1999).
There is a more radical approach, namely, trying to reduce the overall volume of business travel and tourism. This may sound very unlikely in the face of the growth of business tourism in recent years. However, some commentators argue that the rise of new technologies will reduce or at least slow down the demand for business travel.
It could be argued that the growth of satellite, video-conferencing and computer conferencing should reduce the demand for business travel. Likewise Virtual Reality technologies are also allowing people to train to do everything from fighting fires to carrying out surgical operations, without the need to travel to a training centre or another hospital for example.
This should appeal to employers, who stand to save money if use of these technologies becomes more common. Conversely, the business traveller may resent these developments.
They will reduce the number of trips business travellers take to interesting places, when they might often take a partner along, mixing business with pleasure. This could reduce their job satisfaction and their status. At the same time, fewer trips will mean fewer points for the consumer from frequent flyer programmes which may also cause resentment amongst business travellers. (Swarbrooke, 1999)
On the other hand there is the fact that much business travel is to facilitate face-to-face contact between conference delegates and salespeople and their clients, for example. It may be difficult to replace this by the use of communication technologies.
Nevertheless technology may dampen or even reduce demand for business travel and tourism in the years to come. While this would be good in terms of reducing the negative impacts of business tourism, it would also reduce the economic benefits of business tourism for destinations, airlines and hotels.
Conclusion
Business travel and tourism has many different impacts, both positive and negative. It has also been noted that the nature of the impact varies between different types of business tourism, different sectors of the industry and different types of destinations. We have suggested that, to date, the business tourism industry does not seem to have been very concerned about its impacts. Finally, we have looked at some ways in which business travel and tourism could be made more sustainable, including the role of new technologies in reducing the demand for business travel and tourism overall.