Business mentor: Let the triple bottom line help you stay ahead

Q. We run a small tourism business in Northland with a turnover of $900,000 and have four staff.

Visitor numbers are starting to climb, but with that has come more rubbish, a loss of character and a local community perception that the business harms the environment.

How can I manage the impacts these visitors seem to be causing?

A. Calum Revfem, regional manager for the Sustainable Business Network in the Bay of Plenty and managing director of Envirostate, an environmental monitoring and reporting consultancy, replies:

Many businesses face similar challenges when growth begins to impact on the quality of their product and the long-term viability of their business. Successful businesses are those which take a triple bottom line management approach - accounting for economic, social and environmental factors in the same balance sheet.

Economic sustainability

The quality of the visitor experience in this case is being impacted by increasing visitor numbers.

The challenge is to determine the acceptable threshold for that change in quality and how visitor numbers can be managed so that the quality remains and they continue to visit.


Understanding customers, their wants and their impacts provides a basis for determining the ability of your business to meet that want.

There's no sustainable future in having 1000 people a day through the gates of your attraction if it can cater only for 200.

Managing the capacity and flow of your customers is a challenge faced by all in the tourism sector.

Shifting peak loads to shoulder and off-season periods can maintain the quality of the visitor experience while smoothing income flow.

Other benefits include the ability to staff your business and manage work-flow on a less seasonal basis.

Social sustainability

How does your business interact with people - your staff, your customers and your stakeholders?

Knowing why your business should maintain a good relationship with the local community is important. The community provides your workforce and the social infrastructure your business needs to operate. Why not look at a joint project with a community group to produce educational resources that can be used by locals and visitors?

Environmental sustainability

Looking after what makes New Zealand such a sellable visitor destination is common sense. There are a number of obvious environmental management areas that can be addressed - waste, energy use and water, just to mention a few.

International and domestic visitors expect recycling facilities and waste minimisation systems to be in place in our perceived clean and green destination. Waste minimisation and recycling is good for the environment and good for business. For simple waste management solutions visit www.zerowaste.co.nz or contact your local council. A wide range of resources and tools exist for identifying, measuring and managing a business' environmental impacts.

Particularly useful in the tourism sector is the Green Globe International Tourism standard www.greenglobe21.com. A number of local tourism operators have also produced their own set of guidelines, such as the Rotorua Sustainable Tourism Charter.

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