An exploratory study on sustainable ICT capability in the travel and tourism industry: the case of a global distribution system provider

Abstract

This paper was accepted for publication in the journal Communications of the Association for Information Systems and the definitive published version is available at http://aisel.aisnet.org/cais/vol40/iss1/22/. ; Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity today. Environmental values have spread globally and consumer beliefs are pressurizing firms in almost all industries to comply with green regulations. Sustainability has become such an important part of business strategy that almost every major company now has an executive with "sustainability" in his or her title. The travel and tourism industry produced 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2010. Policy makers have responded with ambitious targets. The European Union aims to achieve a 60% reduction in transport sector emissions by 2050. This exploratory study draws on the Sustainable ICT Capability Maturity Framework (SICT-CMF) and the case of the Amadeus IT Group, a large travel and tourism industry corporate enterprise specializing in IT solutions. The study investigates the current capability maturity level of sustainable ICT within the company. The findings suggest that the company is a market leader in terms of sustainability initiatives, demonstrating an "Advanced" level of sustainability capability. The lessons learned from Amadeus' experience are discussed.