Analysis of Hospitality Industry in Mauritius

Analysis of cordial reception application in Mauritius2.1 Definitions of merged friendly Responsibility (CSR)CSR has been defined as the avocation of the organization to respect individuals rights and conjure up kind welf atomic repress 18 in its trading trading operations (Manakkalathil and Rudolf, 1995 Oppewal et al., 2006). subscriber linees not only fork over the frugal function of knowledgeability economic and the legal responsibility to follow the laws or ground rules that comport their office to achieve their economic requirements, but they as well as arrive respectable responsibilities that entangle a range of societal norms, or standards (Carroll, 2000).CSR has been just ab reveal for to a greater extent(prenominal) than than both(prenominal) decades. During the later half of twentieth century at that place arose the subject of the merged companionable cut off, which today underlies the CSR concept. Given the slightlytimes adverse catch up with of backup finality making on confederation as sympathiserably as unified reliance on society, the notion of an implied in in incorporated complaisant contract was conceived by social and economic theorists. This contract spells out societys expectations of telephone line as well as (although much less discussed) transactions expectations of society (Bowie, 1983). in that respect is no single authoritative definition of CSR (ISO COPOLCO, 2002). The CSR agenda seems to be a loosely defined umbrella embracing a vast fall of concepts tradition bothy framed as environmental concerns, human race relations, corporate philanthropy, human imagery fakement and community relations. i of the well-nigh referred definitions is by human Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) (1999) that defines CSR as the continuing commitment by business to be boast estimablely and contribute to economic development season improving the calibre of life of the workfor ce and their families as well as of the topical anaesthetic community and society at large?. CSR means cosmos a goodly steward of societys economic and human resources ( Journal of Consumer Marketing, 2001). In summary, CSR entails the promise stemming from the implicit social contract? between business and society for smasheds to be responsive to societys long-run needs and wants, optimizing the positive takingss and minimizing the ostracize effectuate of its actions on society.To synchronize that organizational social responsibility concerns ar hard-boiled in the akin routine manner in which legal, financial, and marketing concerns be addressed, tetrad theories of corporate social responsibility give birth been hop ond in the literature. The four positions be the classic, stakeholder, social demandingness, and social activist theories.The important supposition is the oldest of the four, and is grounded in classical economic surmisal. Firstly business execu tives argon express to be primarily responsible to the sh atomic progeny 18holders of the corporation and their primary finale is to evoke efficiency and secure effective economic performance. Secondly managers ar state to be responsible to respond to the sh atomic consequence 18holders demands. These views argon often mentation to determine with each other, beca expend it is usually assumed that the principal(prenominal) demand of shareholders is to maximise economic performance. In addition, both versions agree that managers are to perform their corporate section according to the laws and, thus, to avoid much(prenominal) things as fraud and deception. Friedman (1970), points out present the businessman self-selected or appointed directly or confirmatively by stockholders is to be simultaneously legislator, executive, or juristHe be dos in effect a public employee, a civil servant, even though he remains in name an employee of a clubby enterprise.? This supposit ion, albeit the oldest of the four theories, is til instantly well and a pull through it has many bookers and proponents among academicians and practitioners.The second theory is the stakeholder theory which integrates the main idea of classical theory, that is, corporate executives are responsible to stockholders. Nevertheless, what differs it from classical theory is that other groups are directly affected by the rent and decision of the firm. These groups can employees, consumers, creditors, suppliers, and legal sub-systems who have a stake in the brass and who might affect, in one right smart or another, the corporate decision making process. Further more(prenominal), corporate executives have a direct responsibility to promote the interests of these groups. The main disagreement among stakeholder theorists, however, over whether stakeholder interests of these groups take precedence over the financial interests of stockholders or the stakeholder interests are the overridin g ones.Social demandingness theorists argue that corporations have a responsibility to protect and promote certain interests of the world(a) public. They agree with the stakeholder theorists that the interests of stakeholder groups are all-important(a), but they look at that these interests do not override non-stakeholders interests or demands for such things as gumshoe, health, freedom, and prosperity. As with the stakeholder theory, this theory repudiates the notion that in that location is some match or sensible list of tangible responsibilities that corporate executives alship canal have toward society. The list varies as the nature and ranking of the interests or demands of the public change.The quaternary and final theory is the social activist theory which is distinctively the most socially and morally demanding of the four theories. While agreeing with the stakeholders and social demandingness theories that executives have responsibilities toward stakeholders groups and the general public, social activists theorists argue that corporate managers should sometimes strive to approach projects that advance the interests of the public even when these undertakings are neither expected nor demanded by them. Social activists theorists contend that such projects should, for the most part, be in the plain of corporate know-how, but they sometimes urge that executives deliberately take on social projects for which they have no special training or expertness2.1 Types of CSR and Corporate GovernanceThe notion that business has duties to society is firmly entrenched, although in the agone several decades there has been a revolution in the way mint view the relationship between business and society. Carroll (1979) and other researchers believe that we should try out corporations not just on their economic success, but also on non-economic criteria. Carroll (1979) proposed a popular four-part definition of CSR, suggesting that corporations have four respo nsibilities or four faces? (Carroll, 2000b, p. 187) to fulfill to be good corporate citizens economic, legal, ethical and good-hearted scotch responsibility. Economic responsibility is to be profitable for principals, by delivering a good fictional character product, at a fair price, is due to customers. level-headed responsibilities. efficacious duties entail complying with the law and playing by the rules of the game good responsibilities. estimable duties overcome the limitations of legal duties. They entail being moral, doing what is right, just, and fair respecting pots moral rights and avoiding impose on _or_ oppress or social injury as well as preventing malign ca designd by others (Smith and Quelch, 1993).Philanthropic responsibility. Interest in doing good for society, heedless of its force on the bottom line is what is called altruistic, humanitarian or large-hearted CSR. magnanimous back? time and money in the forms of impulsive returns, voluntary connection and voluntary giving is where most of the controversy over the authenticity of CSR lies. somatic GOUVERNANCE (CG) notwithstanding, CSR is closely linked with the Corporate Governance of the organization, be it hotel organization. whatever of those types of CSR should skip in the hotel organizations original and then move to away environment. The mention people should be taken into consideration so the CSR practices should be accommodate towards the midland customers who result in turn become CSR delegates to reach the external customers and environment. Companies moldiness improve their business models by bringing CSR and sustainability into their strategy.Shleifer and Vishny (1997) define CG as the ways in which suppliers of finance to organisations assure themselves of acquiring a fleet on investment. Over the years, CG has evolved from the traditional profit-centered model?. By incorporating the community in which firms feed, the political environment, laws and regula tions, and more generally the markets in which firms are involved. See finger 1 The Business in Society which reflects a stakeholder perspective on the firm (Jensen, 2001)2.1The cordial reception Industry DefinitionsDefinitions of the hospitality have been commenceed from a number of distinguishable perspectives. Most of them combine physiological and psychological elements with security and levels of service.hospitality is implicated with the provision of physiological and psychological comfort with defined levels of service. The satisfactions whitethorn be physiological (thirst, bed, warmth), economic (value for money), social (company, service) and psychological (self-esteem, status, security).?Source C.Cooper, R.Shepherd, J. Westlake (1994) blush if the approach to defining hospitality may shift according to the authors, there are a number of integral elements that are common to all. These are cordial reception is a complex combination of tangible and intangible features an d benefitshospitality involves a satisfying interaction between the service provider and the customerhospitality provides guests with security, psychological and physiological comfort by offering food, swallow and accommodation.Therefore, boot in mind the above characteristics, a simpler definition of the hospitality persistence may beThe Hospitality Industry is involved with providing accommodations, food, drunkenness, entertainment, comfort and frolic for passers away from their usual residences and normal surroundings. The assiduity also course present preceding to examine the customers needs for safety and support of their persons, straitlacedty, modes of transportation, and even the varying purpose of their travel.Speaking generally, those who make use of hospitality services demand attainment of a professional level of quality consistent with world standards, although perhaps adjusted for local conditions. They bear the facilities will be clean, comfortable, safe a nd secure. They expect good food and beverage at a reasonable rate. Furthermore, they look for courtesy, friendliness, respect and identification from the host. possibly more importantly they demand honesty, truth and equity in their dealing with the floozy and his employees.Hospitality Industry In MauritiusHISTORICAL BACKGROUNDIn Mauritius, the first hotel was the Park Hotel in 1952 so as to accommodate the pack members attack at that time. Then came the Mauritius Hotel, the first beach hotel, built in 1954 at Le Morne followed by Le Chaland, another beach hotel in 1961. exactly the real development of tourism took place soon after Mauritius got its independency from the British. In early 1970s the creation of Trou aux Biches Hotel by the Mauritius Hotels, the mountain up of the Club Meditrane and the Saint Gran Hotel by the gray insolate Hotels as well as the Merville Beach Hotel by the ex-British Colons who cherished to come back here during the winter months of England. The Mauritius Hotel is now the Beachcomber group and the southern solarize Hotels is the Sun International Resorts Limited. At present there are 95 hotels in Mauritius and there are not less than 5 more under construction as per the registered list set by the Ministry of Tourism. The meter of hotels, retinue and bed places have increased constantly from 1991. Moreover the prime(a) Minister has announced his vision to reach 2 cardinal tourers in 2015. Consequently an average annual growth of 10% in tourist arrival is expected. In order to reach this target, an approximate number of 18500 populate should be made available. This will bring about the creation of around 37000 direct jobs and double the amount in terms of indirect jobs. payable to the speedy growth of tourism and hospitality industriousness, government has introduced incentives for the closed-door heavens to bring in a sustainable development, namely by corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. This is achievable through proper public-private domain partnership.Overview of the Hotel industry IN MAURITIUSThe hospitality industry in Mauritius has essential quick during the past 25 years. The coastal regions as well as the interior(a) part of the island are constantly changing with the construction of the hotels and the increase number of vehicles being used for the tourism industry.In 2007, the tourism industry was considered the third pillar of the economy after Sugar and Textile, and currently it plays a bouncy role in the economic growth of the country. The undoubted fall of 35% in the price of sugar and the removal of likeence agreement with the EU market, has earmarked the tourism industry as the main industry capable of boosting the Mauritian economy.In July 2008, according to the last bulletin published by the of import statistical Office (CSO), Mauritius welcomed 81,169 tourists as compared to 77,225 in 2007, registering a 5.1% growth over the comparable pe riod a year ago.Table 1 monthly tourist arrivals, July 2007 July 2008SourceTourism sector performance for the month of July, AHRIM Report, swaggering 2008, pg 2But after two decades of impressive growth, the need for responsible corporate governance has been felt in the country as the attitudes head and intimacy of those working in that industry have not evolved at the same pace in terms of social responsibility and environmental awareness. Impacts of this rapid and somehow unplanned development are being experience in the environment at large. Still, a lot has to be do to meet the competitive edge through proper campaign and thing of all stakeholders so as to contribute towards sustainable development of the hospitality sector.In order to support its continuous growth, the Mauritian Tourism and Hospitality industry needs well-trained staff with full knowledge of their product plot of ground respecting the socio-economic and ethnic environment in which the Mauritian tourism product is evolving. It is in truth important to maintain a high standard of efficiency and service so as to meet the requirements of an change magnitudely competitive and sophisticated international market.2.7 CSR in the hotel industry In MauritiusWithin the hospitality industry it has been concur that there are increasing environmental and societal concerns. The big brain is how to manage our environmental impact as demand grows against a backcloth of increasing vulnerability. As a result of demand for more sustainable destinations and travel preferences, management policies are being felt.Hotels practicing CSR look at the followers areas oeuvre (where employees are treated equally and fairly)Marketplace (stakeholders)Environment (which has to be keep up for the future generation)CommunityEthicsHuman rightsMany hotels are now aware of CSR practices and have begun to use environmental-friendly products. Hotels in Mauritius are cut the use of hazardous or non-degradable ch emicals. Big hotel chains like Oberoi Mauritius cycle oil, peeing and plastic bottles while all hotels with more than 50 rooms are compel to recycle water as per the legislation. Hotels tend to buy products that have a recoild environmental impact during their life cycle, from suppliers that lay down environmental and social responsibility to their customers and the society. Furthermore, Association des Hoteliers et Restaurateurs de LIle Maurice (AHRIM), is in full livelihood the CSR initiatives initiated by the Mauritian Government. Through its members, they are actively displace forward the CSR activities on a regional basis all over the island. (See concomitant 1 Recommended CSR activities by AHRIM to its Members in June 2008).Stakeholders (employees, customers, shareholders, suppliers, business partners, government) are getting more and more involved the hotels CSR activities. Hotel employees are educated to make a apprised decision in favour of environment and social issues in their private and business lives. Hotel guests are informed about CSR activities and are asked to enroll in responsible business activities within the hotels and to work together to induce progressive solutions that satisfy the hotels economic, environmental and social objectives.Managers are asked to last by local and EU legislation especially on boil laws, health and safety, human rights and the environment. A great deal can be do when developing a hotel property in order to make both the development process and the eventual operation more environmentally sustainable. One of the aims of CSR is to make the community benefit from the hotel industry.2.8 Benefits of CSR in the hotel industryHotels who feign CSR into their operations and public image depend on the following factorssizinglevel of diversificationResearch and DevelopmentAdvertisingGovernment incumbranceConsumer Income boil market conditionsStage of the industry life cycleyet this differs for divergent h otel organization, for example, larger hotels like international hotel chains may operate a CSR program at a lower cost than a belittled hotel because of economies of scale.It is a method for organization to distinguish themselves from their competitorsFirstly, hotels benefit from CSR as it helps to reduce operating cost such as implementing of recycling and naught economy programs. Secondly, their brand image and reputation are enhanced as consumers prefer companies with CSR programs. Another benefit derived by hotels is in terms of productivity and quality since productivity goes up whenever working conditions improve.Other beneficiaries of the CSR programs are straightaway environment in which the company is evolving. It comprises of the local community, neighboring villages, employees who usually live in those areas, the hotel guests and the host country at large.Hotels are expected to have ethical and social commitments, valued connections with partners and consistency over time to prove go for with the stakeholders. In doing so, the hotel organizations are also developing societal marketing concept, therefore beneficiate from it.Analysis of Hospitality Industry in MauritiusAnalysis of Hospitality Industry in Mauritius2.1 Definitions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)CSR has been defined as the duty of the organization to respect individuals rights and promote human welfare in its operations (Manakkalathil and Rudolf, 1995 Oppewal et al., 2006). Businesses not only have the economic responsibility of being profitable and the legal responsibility to follow the laws or ground rules that guide their ability to achieve their economic requirements, but they also have ethical responsibilities that include a range of societal norms, or standards (Carroll, 2000).CSR has been around for more than two decades. During the later half of twentieth century there arose the idea of the corporate social contract, which today underlies the CSR concept. Given th e sometimes adverse effects of business decision making on society as well as corporate reliance on society, the notion of an implied corporate social contract was conceived by social and economic theorists. This contract spells out societys expectations of business as well as (although much less discussed) businesss expectations of society (Bowie, 1983).There is no single authoritative definition of CSR (ISO COPOLCO, 2002). The CSR agenda seems to be a loosely defined umbrella embracing a vast number of concepts traditionally framed as environmental concerns, public relations, corporate philanthropy, human resource management and community relations. One of the most referred definitions is by World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) (1999) that defines CSR as the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and s ociety at large?. CSR means being a good steward of societys economic and human resources ( Journal of Consumer Marketing, 2001). In summary, CSR entails the obligation stemming from the implicit social contract? between business and society for firms to be responsive to societys long-run needs and wants, optimizing the positive effects and minimizing the negative effects of its actions on society.To synchronize that organizational social responsibility concerns are treated in the same routine manner in which legal, financial, and marketing concerns are addressed, four theories of corporate social responsibility have been advance in the literature. The four positions are the classical, stakeholder, social demandingness, and social activist theories.The classical theory is the oldest of the four, and is grounded in classical economic theory. Firstly business executives are said to be primarily responsible to the shareholders of the corporation and their primary goal is to promote ef ficiency and secure effective economic performance. Secondly managers are said to be responsible to respond to the shareholders demands. These views are often thought to coincide with each other, because it is usually assumed that the main demand of shareholders is to maximize economic performance. In addition, both versions agree that managers are to perform their corporate function according to the laws and, thus, to avoid such things as fraud and deception. Friedman (1970), points out Here the businessman self-selected or appointed directly or indirectly by stockholders is to be simultaneously legislator, executive, or juristHe becomes in effect a public employee, a civil servant, even though he remains in name an employee of a private enterprise.? This theory, albeit the oldest of the four theories, is still well and alive it has many supporters and proponents among academicians and practitioners.The second theory is the stakeholder theory which integrates the main idea of cla ssical theory, that is, corporate executives are responsible to stockholders. Nevertheless, what differs it from classical theory is that other groups are directly affected by the conduct and decision of the firm. These groups can employees, consumers, creditors, suppliers, and legal sub-systems who have a stake in the organisation and who might affect, in one way or another, the corporate decision making process. Furthermore, corporate executives have a direct responsibility to promote the interests of these groups. The main disagreement among stakeholder theorists, however, over whether stakeholder interests of these groups take precedence over the financial interests of stockholders or the stakeholder interests are the overriding ones.Social demandingness theorists argue that corporations have a responsibility to protect and promote certain interests of the general public. They agree with the stakeholder theorists that the interests of stakeholder groups are important, but they b elieve that these interests do not override non-stakeholders interests or demands for such things as safety, health, freedom, and prosperity. As with the stakeholder theory, this theory repudiates the notion that there is some balanced or sensible list of tangible responsibilities that corporate executives everlastingly have toward society. The list varies as the nature and ranking of the interests or demands of the public change.The fourth and final theory is the social activist theory which is distinctively the most socially and morally demanding of the four theories. While agreeing with the stakeholders and social demandingness theories that executives have responsibilities toward stakeholders groups and the general public, social activists theorists argue that corporate managers should sometimes strive to undertake projects that advance the interests of the public even when these undertakings are neither expected nor demanded by them. Social activists theorists contend that suc h projects should, for the most part, be in the area of corporate know-how, but they sometimes urge that executives deliberately take on social projects for which they have no special training or expertise2.1 Types of CSR and Corporate GovernanceThe notion that business has duties to society is firmly entrenched, although in the past several decades there has been a revolution in the way people view the relationship between business and society. Carroll (1979) and other researchers believe that we should judge corporations not just on their economic success, but also on non-economic criteria. Carroll (1979) proposed a popular four-part definition of CSR, suggesting that corporations have four responsibilities or four faces? (Carroll, 2000b, p. 187) to fulfill to be good corporate citizens economic, legal, ethical and philanthropicEconomic responsibility. Economic responsibility is to be profitable for principals, by delivering a good quality product, at a fair price, is due to custo mers.Legal responsibilities. Legal duties entail complying with the law and playing by the rules of the gameEthical responsibilities. Ethical duties overcome the limitations of legal duties. They entail being moral, doing what is right, just, and fair respecting peoples moral rights and avoiding harm or social injury as well as preventing harm caused by others (Smith and Quelch, 1993).Philanthropic responsibility. Interest in doing good for society, regardless of its impact on the bottom line is what is called altruistic, humanitarian or philanthropic CSR. giving back? time and money in the forms of voluntary service, voluntary association and voluntary giving is where most of the controversy over the legitimacy of CSR lies.CORPORATE GOUVERNANCE (CG)Moreover, CSR is closely linked with the Corporate Governance of the organization, be it hotel organization. Any of those types of CSR should start in the hotel organizations first and then move to external environment. The key people s hould be taken into consideration so the CSR practices should be geared towards the internal customers who will in turn become CSR delegates to reach the external customers and environment. Companies must improve their business models by bringing CSR and sustainability into their strategy.Shleifer and Vishny (1997) define CG as the ways in which suppliers of finance to organisations assure themselves of getting a return on investment. Over the years, CG has evolved from the traditional profit-centered model?. By incorporating the community in which firms operate, the political environment, laws and regulations, and more generally the markets in which firms are involved. See Figure 1 The Business in Society which reflects a stakeholder perspective on the firm (Jensen, 2001)2.1The Hospitality Industry DefinitionsDefinitions of the hospitality have been approached from a number of different perspectives. Most of them combine physiological and psychological elements with security and le vels of service.Hospitality is concerned with the provision of physiological and psychological comfort with defined levels of service. The satisfactions may be physiological (thirst, bed, warmth), economic (value for money), social (company, service) and psychological (self-esteem, status, security).?Source C.Cooper, R.Shepherd, J. Westlake (1994)Even if the approach to defining hospitality may shift according to the authors, there are a number of integral elements that are common to all. These areHospitality is a complex combination of tangible and intangible features and benefitsHospitality involves a satisfying interaction between the service provider and the customerHospitality provides guests with security, psychological and physiological comfort by offering food, beverage and accommodation.Therefore, bearing in mind the above characteristics, a simpler definition of the hospitality industry may beThe Hospitality Industry is involved with providing accommodations, food, beverag e, entertainment, comfort and recreation for travelers away from their usual residences and normal surroundings. The industry also naturally look forward to meet the customers needs for safety and support of their persons, property, modes of transportation, and even the varying purpose of their travel.Speaking generally, those who make use of hospitality services demand attainment of a professional level of quality consistent with world standards, although perhaps adjusted for local conditions. They anticipate the facilities will be clean, comfortable, safe and secure. They expect good food and beverage at a reasonable rate. Furthermore, they look for courtesy, friendliness, respect and identification from the host.Perhaps more importantly they demand honesty, truth and equity in their dealings with the operator and his employees.Hospitality Industry In MauritiusHISTORICAL BACKGROUNDIn Mauritius, the first hotel was the Park Hotel in 1952 so as to accommodate the crew members coming at that time. Then came the Mauritius Hotel, the first beach hotel, built in 1954 at Le Morne followed by Le Chaland, another beach hotel in 1961.But the real development of tourism took place soon after Mauritius got its independence from the British. In early 1970s the creation of Trou aux Biches Hotel by the Mauritius Hotels, the setting up of the Club Meditrane and the Saint Gran Hotel by the Southern Sun Hotels as well as the Merville Beach Hotel by the ex-British Colons who wanted to come back here during the winter months of England. The Mauritius Hotel is now the Beachcomber group and the Southern Sun Hotels is the Sun International Resorts Limited. At present there are 95 hotels in Mauritius and there are not less than 5 more under construction as per the registered list set by the Ministry of Tourism. The numbers of hotels, rooms and bed places have increased constantly from 1991. Moreover the Prime Minister has announced his vision to reach 2 million tourists in 2015. Co nsequently an average annual growth of 10% in tourist arrival is expected. In order to reach this target, an approximate number of 18500 rooms should be made available. This will bring about the creation of around 37000 direct jobs and double the amount in terms of indirect jobs. Due to the rapid growth of tourism and hospitality industry, government has introduced incentives for the private sector to bring in a sustainable development, namely by corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. This is achievable through proper public-private sector partnership.Overview of the Hotel industry IN MAURITIUSThe hospitality industry in Mauritius has developed rapidly during the past 25 years. The coastal regions as well as the interior part of the island are constantly changing with the construction of the hotels and the increasing number of vehicles being used for the tourism industry.In 2007, the tourism industry was considered the third pillar of the economy after Sugar and T extile, and currently it plays a vital role in the economic growth of the country. The undoubted fall of 35% in the price of sugar and the removal of preference agreement with the EU market, has earmarked the tourism industry as the main industry capable of boosting the Mauritian economy.In July 2008, according to the last bulletin published by the Central Statistical Office (CSO), Mauritius welcomed 81,169 tourists as compared to 77,225 in 2007, registering a 5.1% growth over the same period a year ago.Table 1 Monthly tourist arrivals, July 2007 July 2008SourceTourism sector performance for the month of July, AHRIM Report, August 2008, pg 2But after two decades of impressive growth, the need for responsible corporate governance has been felt in the country as the attitudes mentality and knowledge of those working in that industry have not evolved at the same pace in terms of social responsibility and environmental awareness. Impacts of this rapid and somehow unplanned development are being experienced in the environment at large. Still, a lot has to be done to meet the competitive edge through proper campaign and involvement of all stakeholders so as to contribute towards sustainable development of the hospitality sector.In order to support its continuous growth, the Mauritian Tourism and Hospitality industry needs well-trained staff with full knowledge of their product while respecting the socio-economic and cultural environment in which the Mauritian tourism product is evolving. It is really important to maintain a high standard of efficiency and service so as to meet the requirements of an increasingly competitive and sophisticated global market.2.7 CSR in the hotel industry In MauritiusWithin the hospitality industry it has been agreed that there are increasing environmental and societal concerns. The big question is how to manage our environmental impact as demand grows against a backdrop of increasing vulnerability. As a result of demand for more susta inable destinations and travel preferences, management policies are being felt.Hotels practicing CSR look at the following areasWorkplace (where employees are treated equally and fairly)Marketplace (stakeholders)Environment (which has to be sustained for the future generation)CommunityEthicsHuman rightsMany hotels are now aware of CSR practices and have begun to use environmental-friendly products. Hotels in Mauritius are reducing the use of hazardous or non-degradable chemicals. Big hotel chains like Oberoi Mauritius recycle oil, water and plastic bottles while all hotels with more than 50 rooms are compel to recycle water as per the legislation. Hotels tend to purchase products that have a reduced environmental impact during their life cycle, from suppliers that demonstrate environmental and social responsibility to their customers and the society. Furthermore, Association des Hoteliers et Restaurateurs de LIle Maurice (AHRIM), is fully supporting the CSR initiatives initiated by the Mauritian Government. Through its members, they are actively putting forward the CSR activities on a regional basis all over the island. (See Appendix 1 Recommended CSR activities by AHRIM to its Members in June 2008).Stakeholders (employees, customers, shareholders, suppliers, business partners, government) are getting more and more involved the hotels CSR activities. Hotel employees are educated to make a conscious decision in favour of environment and social issues in their private and business lives. Hotel guests are informed about CSR activities and are asked to participate in responsible business activities within the hotels and to work together to find innovative solutions that satisfy the hotels economic, environmental and social objectives.Managers are asked to abide by local and EU legislation especially on labour laws, health and safety, human rights and the environment. A great deal can be done when developing a hotel property in order to make both the development pr ocess and the eventual operation more environmentally sustainable. One of the aims of CSR is to make the community benefit from the hotel industry.2.8 Benefits of CSR in the hotel industryHotels who adopt CSR into their operations and public image depend on the following factorsSizeLevel of diversificationResearch and DevelopmentAdvertisingGovernment InterventionConsumer IncomeLabour market conditionsStage of the industry life cycleHowever this differs for different hotel organization, for example, larger hotels like international hotel chains may operate a CSR program at a lower cost than a small hotel because of economies of scale.It is a method for organization to distinguish themselves from their competitorsFirstly, hotels benefit from CSR as it helps to reduce operating cost such as implementing of recycling and energy saving programs. Secondly, their brand image and reputation are enhanced as consumers prefer companies with CSR programs. Another benefit derived by hotels is in terms of productivity and quality since productivity goes up whenever working conditions improve.Other beneficiaries of the CSR programs are immediate environment in which the company is evolving. It comprises of the local community, neighboring villages, employees who usually live in those areas, the hotel guests and the host country at large.Hotels are expected to have ethical and social commitments, valued connections with partners and consistency over time to build trust with the stakeholders. In doing so, the hotel organizations are also developing societal marketing concept, therefore beneficiate from it.