The Sustainable Development Goals and the Tourism and Hospitality Industry

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine some of the challenges the tourism and hospitality industry may encounter in looking to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to offer some wider reflections on sustainability within the industry. The SDGs provide a wide range of global sustainable development targets for the environment, society and economy and they were launched by the United Nations in 2015. In launching the SDGs while the United Nations called on all member states to embrace what are an ambitious and demanding set of challenges it also emphasised the vital role that business, would have to play if these challenges were to be met. The paper begins by outlining the SDGs and the case for business engagement with the SGDs, goes on to examines some of the challenges the tourism and hospitality industry may encounter in looking to contribute to the SDGs and offers some wider reflections on sustainability within the industry.