The editors of the first edition of the "Journal of Sustainable Tourism" wrote in the introduction:

"Sustainable tourism is a positive approach intended to reduce the tensions and frictions created by the complex interactions between the tourism industry, visitors, the environment and the communities which are host to holiday makers… an approach which involves working for the longer viability and quality of both natural and human resources.” (Bramwell and Lane, 1993: 2)

- treat the human "resource" just as this - the most important resource, which needs to be developed with a long-term perspective.

Most famous best case example: Scandic Hotels
(http://www.scandichotels.com/About-Us/Careers/)

"Work and develop with us

A cook who became executive chef. A controller who became project manager. A cleaner who became general manager. The development opportunities are huge at Scandic. Start with us and there is every chance that you'll want to stay on.

6,600 team members serve millions of guests every year

Our business concept involves making travel easy for as many people as possible. To help us on our way, we need skilled staff. If you are a people person, working at Scandic could offer you great opportunities for personal development. As well as having a wide choice of different jobs, you can also apply for a job anywhere in the Nordic region. We want everyone who works here to have the opportunity to grow, both as a person and in their professional capacity. Today, around 6,600 people work for Scandic in the Nordic region. But we always need more.

Committed to personal development

Competence and commitment are your contribution to Scandic. The opportunity for a job offering development and excitement is our contribution back. Our vision for team members is to create added value for everyone. "We will offer secure and meaningful work in a developing environment, where performance creates value for you, the guests and Scandic."

Further training at Scandic Business School

Skills development is key to Scandic's success. We offer great opportunities for development in all our professions. Scandic Business School provides two different types of training – from specialist courses such as "The art of building up a buffet breakfast" to our internal management programme Talent@Scandic, which in the long term can help you to become one of our excellent managers.

We aim for our training programmes to cover all the areas within a hotel. You should be able to find out everything you want and need to know to enjoy a career with us right here.

Our cross-training also allows you to switch workplace with a colleague at another hotel. This enables you to broaden your skills, meet new people and then take your experiences back to "your" hotel.

School's over, but we're always learning

Knowledge often has a short shelf-life; what was important to know a few years ago is out of date today. As the world changes, the demands on Scandic, its work and the people who work here change.

The Knowledge Portal is the technological platform that enables us to monitor the progress of team members within Scandic. This is the gateway to your development and training opportunities. All the courses and programmes that you take part in, results and follow-ups from performance reviews and other skills development initiatives are fed into this system – an invaluable tool that keeps us updated on personal and general objectives."

Congratulations Magnus! Scandic´s Disability Coordinator is five years old

3 December is the UN’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities and Scandic offers its congratulations to Magnus Berglund, who has worked as the hotel chain’s Disability Coordinator for five years now. The trend is clear; more and more people with disabilities are working, attending conferences and meetings and enjoying leisure stays at hotels. Europe has around 50 million people with disabilities and many companies have a strong focus on the differing needs of their staff. One person in a wheelchair can affect where a conference of several hundred people will be held.

“It’s essential for companies to see accessibility as an investment. I believe that the tourist industry could lose a great deal of money in the future, unless everyone actively starts tackling accessibility. Why don’t others invest as much as we do?” So says Magnus Berglund, Scandic’s Disability Coordinator at Scandic.

Five years ago, Magnus was on permanent sick leave, with no hope of returning to the world of work. But then he had an idea of how Scandic could increase its revenue and at the same time do its bit for accessibility in society. Now he’s celebrating five years as Scandic’s Disability Coordinator. Magnus and his assistance dog Ada have become well-known figures within and beyond Scandic.

The same value for money

A lot has happened as a direct consequence of our focused work to increase accessibility. Tens of thousands of extra hotel nights have been booked, prizes have been won, and Magnus’s job as Disability Coordinator helps Scandic to keep track of what guests need and want. The hotel chain has its own minimum standard for accessibility in the form of a 93-point list. These points include improving the standard of disabled rooms with the addition of height-adjustable beds, having a walking stick holder in reception and offering a vibrating alarm clock that also serves as a fire alarm. The rooms are both functional and attractively furnished.

“When I went travelling around Europe five years ago, staying in disabled rooms, they often looked like hospital rooms. Who wants to pay for that kind of thing when you’re on a business trip or holiday? I want just as good value for money as guests without a disability,” comments Magnus.

Much has been achieved but there is more still to do

Magnus thinks that more companies should put accessibility at the heart of everything they do, instead of doing just enough to avoid criticism. When Scandic builds or refits a hotel, it looks beyond what the law says has to be done and listens carefully to what guests need. They know best, they have their requirements and they won’t hesitate to avoid hotels that fail to take accessibility seriously. That’s why Scandic is convinced that a professional approach to accessibility is the only way to go in the future.

“Few people with disabilities want special treatment; they just want the same opportunities as everyone else in society and that includes travel, meetings and accommodation. For Scandic, this is an issue of competitiveness. As well as showing our commitment to social justice, we see major commercial benefits in being accessible to all. This is a special anniversary for me. Five years ago I was excluded from the labour market. Today, I’m involved in taking forward the issue of accessibility, an area that impacts on companies’ profits and affects millions of people every day,” concludes Magnus Berglund, Disability Coordinator at Scandic.