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- Sörensson, Anna, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Sustainability reporting among Swedish tourism service providers : Information differences between them
- 2016
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Ingår i: WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment. - : WIT Press. - 9781784660857
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Within the tourism industry, there is a considerable focus on sustainable tourism and tourism service providers should be sustainable. One way for tourism service providers to address these issues and communicate their sustainability work is for instance through annual reports, sustainability reports and home pages. The aim with this study was therefore to explore and compare what kind of information concerning sustainability that Swedish tourism service providers’ present to stakeholders. Sustainability report is one way for tourism companies to be more legitimate and accountable toward their stakeholders. Data was collected from 60 tourism service providers (eg. 20 hotels, 20 restaurants and 20 activity companies) in Sweden from their annual reports and sustainability reports as well as their home pages. They are large-sized tourism service providers with a yearly turnover between 5-50 million euros. The result shows that very few companies make sustainability reports. There is also difference between how and where they present their sustainability work. The companies often present more of their sustainability work on their homepage compared to in annual and sustainability reports. The conclusion is that hotels are more focused on environmental sustainability, restaurants focused more on social sustainability and the activity companies have little information about their sustainability work.
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- Bogren, Maria, 1962-, et al.
(författare)
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Creating tourism experiences from food products
- 2018
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Ingår i: Destination Dynamics 2018.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Gastronomy is nowadays seen as an important part of tourism. Different kind of food producers are creating places where tourists want to travel to experience the food (e g product) at a certain place (often the production site). Food producers are therefore becoming important tourism producers and they try to find new ways to attract tourists and/or the tourists demand to experience the place where the products are produced. Due to that, the food producers themselves can become a travel reason. The aim with this paper is to discuss how food producers creates tourism experiences. This is further examined by the following research questions: How do food producers create tourism experiences based on high quality products? What are the key values in creating tourism food experiences? The study was conducted as a qualitative multiple case study with eight cases selected by recommendation from local researchers: four cases from northern Europe (two cheese producers in Jämtland, Sweden, and two distilleries in Tröndelag, Norway) and four cases from southern Europe (two olive oil producers and two wine producers from Andalusia, Spain). Data was collected by observations, semi-structured interviews and documentary studies. The results show that food producers creates different products as well as different types of experiences. This can be explained by a theoretical model in three steps namely products (1), tourism visits (2) and tourism experiences (3). When the first step, the basic needs, is fulfilled, the producer can climb higher to the next step. Thereafter, they continue to climb up in the model by providing different types of visits and tourism experiences. The model is also highly dependent on three surrounding influences; from the place, product quality and value in use. When it comes to quality, this is valued in all three steps of the model. This theoretical model can be useful for food producers that would like to expand their products into tourism.
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- Bogren, Maria, 1962-, et al.
(författare)
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Entrepreneurial support systems and potential entrepreneurs´ knowledge of them
- 2017
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- All over the world, governments are supporting entrepreneurial activity in order to develop their countries through successful businesses. There are different support systems supporting active and potential entrepreneurs in the European countries, but do all potential entrepreneurs know where to turn for information and help about starting and running a business? The aim of this study is to explore support systems in Poland, Spain and Sweden and, in addition to this, to investigate what knowledge students have of different support systems that would be of use if they want to start their own business. Previous research shows that students who have participated in entrepreneurship education programs are more likely to become entrepreneurs (Charney & Libecap, 2000; Galloway & Brown, 2002; Davidsson & Honig, 2003; Athayde, 2009). Several studies show how having parents, friends, or neighbors who run a business can inspire a person to start their own business (e g Davidsson & Honig, 2003; Krueger, 1993; Scherer et al., 1989). This explorative study was conducted in three European countries: Poland, Spain, and Sweden. Firstly, a review of existing support systems was performed in each country. Secondly, a questionnaire was distributed in May 2017 to university students in different study programs and at different levels of education. In total, 124 questionnaires were handed out and answered by 64 Spanish students, 34 Swedish students, and 26 Polish students. The questionnaire included background questions such as age and sex, but also asked if the students wanted to start a business or not. We asked if they currently run a business or have run a business in the past, and if their parents, other relatives, or friends run their own businesses. We also asked where they would go to get information and help, and what sources they would use to find information on starting a business. Finally, we asked them what kind of help they thought they would need. The results show that there are valuable support systems for entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs in all three countries. We found more similarities than differences among the support options offered. However, the answers from the potential entrepreneurs show that there is a lack of knowledge about existing support systems. It seems that potential entrepreneurs would rather use their private network, such as family, friends and active entrepreneurs, before turning to consultants in various support system organizations. This study highlights the connection between available support systems and potential entrepreneurs, and is a valuable implication for governments and supporting organizations, focusing on how to reach out with their offered support.
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- Bogren, Maria, 1962-, et al.
(författare)
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Tourism companies’ sustainability communication : creating legitimacy and value
- 2021
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism. - UK : Informa UK Limited. - 1502-2250 .- 1502-2269. ; 21:5, s. 475-493
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this paper is to explore the sustainability values that tourism companies communicate to stakeholders. The following two research questions are addressed: What sustainability value (economic, social, or environmental) do tourism companies focus on and communicate in their sustainability information? Do different types of tourism companies provide different sustainability communications to stakeholders to gain legitimacy? A case study was conducted of 30 Swedish-based tourism companies. Written documents that were available online concerning sustainability information from these companies were analysed using the GRI model. The results show that tourism companies work to create value with the help of sustainability. The results also indicate that the context and prerequisites for each type of tourism company govern what they work with in order to meet the demands of stakeholders. The study's theoretical contribution is that sustainability communication to stakeholders can be of value to tourism companies. Its practical contribution is that, in addition to pursuing sustainability, tourism companies should communicate their sustainability work to their stakeholders in order to create value.
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- Boter, Håkan, 1948-, et al.
(författare)
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Experiences of Small Businesses Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
- 2021
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Ingår i: Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability during the Coronavirus Crisis. - Cham : Springer. - 9783030738464 - 9783030738471 ; , s. 135-160
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter reports on how Swedish companies have coped with the first six months of the pandemic. The basis for analyses consists of interviews with 1200 small companies from four different industry segments, whose results show different outcomes. Some categories of companies experienced and are still experiencing significant negative effects, while other businesses have been only marginally affected. A small group has noticed growing sales as well as occasional signals from the market that new products and services are needed in the near future. There are indications that small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) managers are considering social responsibility towards the employees of the companies. We would like to emphasize three different activities. Firstly, over 40% of all SME managers have during the pandemic partly abstained from salary and/or other special salary benefits. In the hotel and restaurant sector, this figure is 70% and for managers with foreign background 55% state that they have done such activities. Second, many SMEs have used governmental support to be able to keep their employed individuals part-time in the companies. As a third example, it could be worth mentioning the many companies which are looking for alternative business ideas as an alternative, which could be seen as examples of effectuation.
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