Leveraging Corporate Social Responsibility to Drive Sustainable Tourism in Karakalpakstan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51699/cajitmf.v7i4.1361Keywords:
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Sustainable Tourism, Karakalpakstan, Aral Sea Region, Triple Bottom Line, Destination Management, EcotourismAbstract
The Republic of Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region within Uzbekistan, faces unique socio-ecological challenges driven primarily by the Aral Sea environmental crisis. While tourism has been identified as a critical catalyst for regional economic diversification, uncontrolled development threatens fragile desert and wetland ecosystems and cultural heritage. This paper investigates how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mechanisms can be leveraged by private and public actors in the tourism and hospitality sectors to foster sustainable tourism. Drawing on stakeholders theory, the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) metrics, this study analyzes the structural barriers to CSR integration in the region, including financial constraints, lack of institutional frameworks, and low local capacity. Finally, the paper proposes a strategic framework for "Destination CSR" tailored to Karakalpakstan, focusing on eco-lodging, heritage preservation, local community empowerment, and public-private partnership models.
References
A. B. Carroll, “The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders,” Business Horizons, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 39–48, 1991, doi: 10.1016/0007-6813(91)90005-G.
A. Dahlsrud, “How corporate social responsibility is defined: An analysis of 37 definitions,” Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 1–13, 2008, doi: 10.1002/csr.132.
T. Coles, E. Fenclova, and C. Dinan, “Tourism and corporate social responsibility: A critical review and research agenda,” Tourism Management Perspectives, vol. 6, pp. 122–141, 2013, doi: 10.1016/j.tmp.2013.02.001.
X. Font and J. Lynes, “Corporate social responsibility in tourism and hospitality,” Journal of Sustainable Tourism, vol. 26, no. 7, pp. 1027–1042, 2018, doi: 10.1080/09669582.2018.1488856.
J.-S. Horng, H. Hsu, and C.-Y. Tsai, “An assessment model of corporate social responsibility practice in the tourism industry,” Journal of Sustainable Tourism, vol. 26, no. 7, pp. 1085–1104, 2018, doi: 10.1080/09669582.2017.1388384.
M. A. Camilleri, “Responsible tourism that creates shared value among stakeholders,” Tourism Planning & Development, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 219–235, 2016, doi: 10.1080/21568316.2015.1074100.
A. Chilufya, E. Hughes, and R. Scheyvens, “Tourists and community development: Corporate social responsibility or tourist social responsibility?,” Journal of Sustainable Tourism, vol. 27, no. 10, pp. 1513–1529, 2019, doi: 10.1080/09669582.2019.1643871.
D. A. Fennell, K. Çakar, N. C. Ağbay, and İ. Uzut, “Corporate social responsibility and sustainable tourism in tourist destinations: A qualitative case study from Türkiye,” Tourism Planning & Development, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 324–345, 2025, doi: 10.1080/21568316.2024.2366402.
I. M. Damian, E. Navarro-Jurado, and F. Ruiz, “Involving stakeholders in the evaluation of the sustainability of a tourist destination: A novel comprehensive approach,” Journal of Sustainable Tourism, vol. 31, no. 7, pp. 1631–1650, 2023, doi: 10.1080/09669582.2021.1919687.
J. Saarinen, “Traditions of sustainability in tourism studies,” Annals of Tourism Research, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 1121–1140, 2006, doi: 10.1016/j.annals.2006.06.007.
United Nations Environment Programme and World Tourism Organization, Making Tourism More Sustainable: A Guide for Policy Makers. Paris, France: United Nations Environment Programme, 2005, 209 pp., ISBN 978-92-807-2507-0.
International Organization for Standardization, ISO 26000:2010: Guidance on Social Responsibility. Geneva, Switzerland: International Organization for Standardization, 2010.
Global Reporting Initiative, GRI 1: Foundation 2021. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Global Reporting Initiative, 2021.
United Nations, Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. New York, NY, USA: United Nations, 2015.
Global Sustainable Tourism Council, GSTC Destination Criteria, Version 2.0. Washington, DC, USA: Global Sustainable Tourism Council, 2019.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Ermekbaeva Indira Pulatbek Qizi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
In submitting the manuscript to the Central Asian Journal of Innovations on Tourism Management and Finance, the authors certify that:
- They are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
- The work described has not been formally published before, except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, thesis, or overlay journal.
- That it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere,
- The publication has been approved by the author(s) and by responsible authorities – tacitly or explicitly – of the institutes where the work has been carried out.
- They secure the right to reproduce any material that has already been published or copyrighted elsewhere.
- They agree to the following license and copyright agreement.
License and Copyright Agreement
Authors who publish with Central Asian Journal of Innovations on Tourism Management and Finance agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the Central Asian Journal of Innovations on Tourism Management and Finance right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors can enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the Central Asian Journal of Innovations on Tourism Management and Finance published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or edit it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) before and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
