Economic sustainability of tourism businesses: Known or unknown concept in the hotel sector?

Abstract

It is possible to achieve sustainable results in order to raise the level of tourism in almost every destination through the perception of modern trends, the current economic situation or the anticipation of future growth. The tourism potential is also reflected in the gross domestic product (GDP) data which increases year by year. In 2016, direct tourism in the Czech Republic contributed to the GDP by 2.5% and it is predicted to grow to 5.2% in 2017. Overall, this share along with indirect and induced effects was 7.8%. Worldwide, GDP share accounted for 10.2% of total tourism. Liberalization of tourism has had the effect of opening the world of tourism to everyone who has the will to travel. Due to the so-called "effect of fashion," demand, new forms of tourism and more modern businesses are still increasing. In spite of the positive features of tourism, it is necessary to address sustainability in tourism from the point of view of tourism managers and stakeholders in order to avoid the negative impact that this tourism boom can cause. This article deals with the current state of economic sustainability and its usage in selected tourism businesses in the hotel industry on the local market. The whole research was conducted through a questionnaire survey, the main aim of which was to find out if the concept of economic sustainability is known and used in hotel practice. The aim of the research was also to evaluate which economic indicators are used by hotel facilities for management of their economic results. The presented indicators consisted of selected theoretical indicators (WTO, 2004; Association for Development of Municipalities and Regions, 2007; European Union, 2013) as well as indicators obtained and used by experts during the conducted Delphi survey. Another important finding of this research was the willingness of hotel managers to implement a system of indicators for assessing economic sustainability in hotel businesses in the Zlin region, as well as the utilisation rate of presented indicators of economic sustainability. Conclusions from the research, which has not been conducted in the Czech Republic yet, are presented at the end of this paper.