The travel and tourism industry is unusual, although by no means unique, in that the consumer travels to the ‘factory’ to consume the accommodation, food and drink, attractions, and experiences that the destination has to offer. The same is true when you go to the hairdresser and a range of other consumer services.
The EU is requiring large and listed companies to “publish regular reports on the social and environmental risks they face, and on how their activities impact people and the environment.” This forms part of the European Green Deal, designed to enable “investors, civil society organisations, consumers and other stakeholders to evaluate the sustainability performance of companies.”
In February this year, the Commission adopted a package of proposals to simplify EU rules and boost competitiveness. The package proposes to apply the CSRD only to the largest companies (those with more than 1,000 employees), focusing the sustainability reporting obligations on companies more likely to have the greatest impacts on people and the environment. Moreover, it seeks to ensure that reporting requirements placed on large companies do not burden smaller companies in their value chains.
It is already clear that the EU’s reporting requirements for larger companies are imposing costs on SMEs and SMMEs, often requiring hours or even days of work.
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Many small businesses report to several, and in many cases numerous, companies, each with their own ‘unique’ survey form. There would be great benefit in developing a standard survey form to meet the EU CSRD requirements.
The Latin American Travel Association is to be applauded for organising a survey to ascertain the extent of these unintended consequences.
“Sustainability data is becoming an increasingly critical part of doing business in tourism, whether it is driven by client demand, certifications or regulatory pressures. But we know the process can be problematic: fragmented data requests, limited capacity and unclear value in return.” As they state in their letter, “We want to understand your reality, and design better support accordingly.”
Their survey asks:
- How often you’re asked for data (and by whom)
- How similar or consistent these requests are
- The resources and incentives (or barriers) behind your data collection
- Who actually benefits from the data you provide
- Whether you’ve had to raise prices to cover reporting costs
The information collected will be used to “streamline processes and create meaningful, practical support tools for the sector.”
You can access their letter and the survey form here.
Trade associations are well placed to establish a common reporting form that meets the needs of large companies required to report under the CSRD regulations. The use of multiple survey instruments to secure the required information is unnecessarily burdensome on small businesses in the supply chain, mitigating an unintended consequence of a laudable objective.
