ABSTRACT
Since Elkington (1997) intro duced the concept of the triple bottom line (TBL) it became almost synonym ous with sustain ab il ity. Measuring busi ness perform ance based on economic, envir on mental and social aspects is a more commonly recog nised busi ness prac tice. Building on the concept of the triple bottom line, Getz (2005) argues that sustain able events are those events that augment the bene fits of the three pillars (economic, envir on mental and social) and at the same time reduce the negat ive impacts as ‘no event will have zero envir on mental impacts’ (Bladen et al., 2012, 365). Current best prac tice in the events industry involves ensur ing events are sustain able, and a stronger emphasis is now placed on deliv er ing green events (Bowdin et al., 2011). Event managers have an ethical respons ib il ity, and increas ingly also a legal one, to produce events that are ‘socially, cultur ally and envir on ment ally respons ible’ (Getz, 2005, 123). Exploiting the discourse on respons ible tourism, Getz (2009, 71) has adopted and adapted the general prin ciples of respons ible tourism for the events sector, and argues that events should:
the improve ment of working condi tions and employ ment facil it ies
• move the decision-making process from a central to a more local level to encour age involve ment
resid ents
• encour age respect between event attendees and hosts linking to local pride and confid ence.
