Sustainable development in the activities of the meetings industry : contemporary challenges

Purpose: The article aims to verify whether the meetings industry is taking actions for sustainable development and, if so, what kind of projects they are. Implementation of sustainable development principles is currently a trend in management in every field, including the meetings industry. The meetings industry also recognises this problem's essence and implements sustainable development principles into its operations. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve the intended research goal, an in-depth search of literature and online sources and interviews with 21 industry representatives were used. The article discusses the following research problem: what actions are taken by the meetings industry for sustainable development; whether it implements a sustainable development strategy and policy; whether and how the idea of sustainable development is implemented in cooperation with partners; how the industry perceives sustainable development activities in the area of MICE and what is its opinion in terms of shaping the right conditions in this area; what actions are vital in shaping sustainable development by the meetings industry? Findings: Research has proven that the business tourism industry implements sustainability measures in its operations. Research limitations/implications: Research limitation is the amount of industry feedback obtained. Due to the inability to obtain a larger number of research questionnaires, a sample of only 20 interviews with experts was used. Practical implications: The utilitarian goal of the research is to provide useful guidelines for the meetings industry in implementing of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) policies. Social implications: Research based on the issues it undertakes relates to and raises important social issues. Originality/value: Although the meetings industry implements activities in sustainable development, they are not sufficient, especially in the context of the European Commission's Directive on Corporate Sustainability Reporting (CSRD). The presented research and guidelines for the industry in this area are currently a critical topic. They are a scientific novelty, and, as such, a research approach has not been presented in the context of this industry so far.