Reframing Corporate Social Responsibility from the Tanzanian Tourism Industry: The Vision of Foreign and Local Tourism Companies

This paper reports on research undertaken in the tourism sector in Tanzania, the goals of which were to document and interpret corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices within an African setting, and to explore the ways in which foreign and local tourism businesses employ responsible practices. Qualitative interviews with 40 tourism company (guiding and accommodation) managers were thematically analysed, and considered along with a data from a content analysis of the companies' homepages to examine CSR practices. The findings suggest that most tourism businesses are not only familiar with what constitutes a responsible business but are undertaking some sort of responsible business initiatives. According to tourism managers a responsible business is defined not only by its activities/actions but its values/virtues of integrity, benevolence, communalism, humanity and transparency. However, foreign owned companies differed from local companies in the focus of their CSR initiatives, primarily addressing environmental concerns and working conditions of employees, while community initiatives and education were the main foci of locally owned companies. The study contributes to our understanding of CSR in tourism in developing countries, particularly in terms of how CSR is conceptualized, what factors underlie engagement with CSR, and how it is practiced.