CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY AS A FACTOR OF IMPROVING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF MONTENEGRO

Abstract

Application of corporate social responsibility concept in hotel companies should facilitate the establishment of conditions for successful market entry and raise of competitive advantages of a local hotel and tourism enterprises. Also, corporate social responsibility represents a direct factor in promoting sustainable development, especially when it comes to tourism and hospitality sector. The question of social responsibility concept application has been recently brought to the spotlight which has encouraged the creation of Montenegro law legislation regarding this matter and embracing various legislation acts such as the Law on Environmental Protection, Law on Consumers Protection, laws against corruption, adopting codes of business ethics and corporate management etc. Montenegrin hotels that should constantly improve their offer and place their focus on more emitting markets must recognize the importance of applying socially responsibility concept which will serve to the environment protection, consumer protection, energy efficiency improvement and promotion of sustainable development in Montenegro. This essay places its focus on the necessity of identifying levels of socially responsible behavior implementation in hotel companies with the aim of improving tourism product and sustainable development of Montenegro. The overall objective of the research is to get through the aspect of corporate social responsibility to help hotel enterprises in Montenegro to better position themselves in the minds of consumers on wider tourism market and improve their competitive advantage. Traditional Montenegrin code of social behavior expressed in humanity gives a proper interpretation of social responsibility - "Humanity means protecting others from ourselves", of course, translated into the framework of modern business.