CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AS A TOLL FOR RESPONSIBLE TOURISM: THE CASE OF CROATIAN HOTEL INDUSTRY

The aim of the paper was to compare and confront the concepts of sustainability and responsibility in tourism and to research the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in achieving sustainable and/or responsible tourism. The empirical research was aimed to analyze the importance of CSR for hotel companies in Croatia as a toll towards a more responsible tourism. Considering the numerous direct and indirect impacts of hotels on their natural and social environment, the implementation of CSR brings many challenges for them. CSR could be a catalyst for numerous innovative changes in the businesses operations, it can contribute to increased motivation, satisfaction and loyalty of employees, as well as improved relations with different internal and external stakeholders. The empirical research which was conduced on a representative sample of Croatian hotels has shown that hotel managers are aware of the impacts of CSR on the long-term competitiveness, the local community and the environment. However, in their business practice many activities related to CSR still have not been applied sufficiently. Those who implement some aspects of CSR are more committed to obtain environmental than social sustainability. This result was expected due to obtaining certain levels of environmental sustainability is easier and more tangible than obtaining social sustainability that requires changing or improving relations toward different internal and external stakeholders. As expected, the commitment to CSR is not dependent on the size of the hotel, but it depends on the awareness and knowledge of the hotel's owners and managers about the potential tangible and intangible benefits that can derive from the implementation of CSR for the company, their employees, the social community and the environment.