Page 29 - Sustaining Accommodation SMES

4

Sustainability Standards as Enablers
of the Sustainable Transition

Sustainability transitions in tourism depend not only on voluntary com-
mitments or the goodwill of individual enterprises but also on insti-
tutional mechanisms that systematically shape behaviour. Across envi-
ronmental psychology and sustainability research, scholars emphasise
that meaningful behavioural change occurs when attitudinal motivations
align with contextual enablers (Stern, 2000). In tourism, where manage-
rial decisions are often constrained by operational pressures, market de-
mands and regulatory uncertainty, sustainability standards provide pre-
cisely this enabling context. They translate broad sustainability principles
into operational requirements, reduce ambiguity, and create a structured
pathway for accommodation providers to implement, monitor and im-
prove sustainability performance. Standards therefore serve both a prac-
tical and a behavioural function. Practically, they provide explicit guide-
lines and performance criteria that providers can follow. Behaviourally,
they modify the organisational context (the ‘c’ in Stern’s abc model
of environmentally significant behaviour), thereby making sustainable
choiceseasier, more likely,orinstitutionally expected (Guagnanoetal.,
1995; Stern et al., 1999). By shaping this context, standards help over-
come the persistent ‘attitude-behaviour gap’ commonly observed within
the tourism sector, where positive sustainability intentions often fail to
translateintoconcreteactions (Juvan &Dolnicar, 2016). Concurrently,
sustainability standards reflect principles embedded in the Triple Bot-
tom Line framework, which calls for balancing environmental, social,
and economic performance (Stoddard et al., 2012). The accommodation
sector, traditionally driven by economic metrics, increasingly faces ex-
pectations from guests, partners and regulators to demonstrate responsi-
bleenvironmental stewardshipand community engagement. Standards
support this evolution by offering a credible, auditable structure for inte-
grating sustainability into day-to-day management (Hussain et al., 2018).
In this sense, sustainability standards act not as external add-ons but
as transitional governance tools. They guide organisations through the
behavioural, managerial and cultural changes needed for long-term sus-
tainability, thereby contributing to systemic transformation within the
tourism supply chain.

29