Is Tourism Doing Enough? Linking CSR with the Sustainable Development Goals

In our latest collaborative research, we’ve taken a deep dive into one of the most pressing issues for the modern travel sector: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

While many tourism organisations talk a big game about "going green", we wanted to look under the bonnet and see how these policies actually align with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Is it just clever marketing, or are we seeing genuine progress towards a fairer, more sustainable future?

What we discovered

Our review, titled "The Implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility Policies in the Tourism Industry and Sustainable Development Goals: A Review of Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities", explores the complex relationship between business ethics and global targets. We found that:

• Progress is happening, but it’s often fragmented across different sectors of the industry.

• Significant challenges remain, particularly regarding how companies measure the real-world impact of their CSR initiatives.

• New opportunities are emerging for tourism leaders to move beyond "ticking boxes" and start creating systemic change that benefits both local communities and the environment.

Why this matters

Tourism has a unique footprint. It can be a force for good—creating jobs and preserving heritage—but without robust CSR frameworks, it risks doing more harm than gold. Our paper provides a roadmap for researchers and practitioners to bridge the gap between corporate policy and meaningful sustainable development.

If you’re interested in how the industry can evolve to meet the challenges of the 2030 Agenda, you can find the full analysis and our detailed findings via the link below.

Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.3390/su17136044

Montañés-Del Río, M. Á., Rodríguez-Cornejo, V., Rodríguez-Castro, P. I., & Herrera-Madueño, J. (2025). The Implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility Policies in the Tourism Industry and Sustainable Development Goals: A Review of Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities. Sustainability, 17(13), 6044.