SUSTAINABILITY ACCOUNTING
REPORTING IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE
NEW EU LEGISLATION IN CROATIAN
HOTEL COMPANIES
MILENA PERŠIĆ, FMTU, Opatija
KATARINA BAKIJA, DOBA, Maribor
DUBRAVKA VLAŠIĆ, FMTU, Opatija
ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe
3rd International Scientific Conference
Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
Content of presentation
EU DIRECTIVE 2014/95/EU, AND
OTHER STARTING POINTS
AS A FRAMEWORK FOR
SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING
ACHIEVED LEVEL OF SEGMENT &
SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING IN
CROATIAN HOTEL COMPANIES
RECCOMONDATIONS FOR NEW
APPROACH IN THE SYSTEM OF
SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING
ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe
3rd International Scientific Conference
Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
DIRECTIVE 2014/95/EU
SUSTAINABILTY REPORTING DIRECTIVE
(22 October 2014)
Amending Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure of nonfinancial and diversity information by certain large
undertakings and groups - Text with EEA relevance of the
European Parliament and of the Council
EU sustainable development strategy (EU SDS) launched by the
European Council in Gothenburg in 2001 and renewed in June 2006.
Eurostat publish monitoring reports every two years
(last in 2013)
ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe
3rd International Scientific Conference
Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
Implementation of new Directive 2014/95/EU

This Directive is essentially an amendment to the existing Directive
(2013/34/EU - http://eur-lex.europa.eu ) – financial reporting

Important novelty lays in the fact that relevant sustainability and
social responsibility information should be prepared and disclosed
in non-financial statement in accordance with the EU or
international regulations or standards - GUIDELINES

New EU Directive obligates all EU members to include this kind
of EU regulations in the framework of national legislation by the
financial year 2017

Big companies are mandatory to disclose non-financial and
diversity information within the framework of existing financial
statements, no later than December 2018

This also means the obligation for big companies of applying
specific tools and techniques of strategic accounting which offers
information for long-term decision making.
ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe
3rd International Scientific Conference
Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
The Accounting Act in Croatia
ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe
3rd International Scientific Conference
Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
GRI – Global Reporting Initiative
• ECONOMIC CATEGORY:
economic performance, market
presence, economic impacts and
procurement practices
• ENVIRONMENTAL CATEGORY:
materials, energy, water,
biodiversity, emissions, effluents
and waste, compliance, overall
and supplier environmental
assessment
• SOCIAL CATEGORY: labor
practices, human rights, society
and product responsibility.
ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe
3rd International Scientific Conference
Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
EUROSTAT use in process of monitoring, more than 100 indicators, and
below have been identified headline indicators which give an overall picture of whether
the EU has achieved progress towards sustainable development, in terms of the
objectives and targets defined in the
EU Sustainable Development Strategy (EU SDS)
ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe
3rd International Scientific Conference
Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe
3rd International Scientific Conference
Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
Research was conduct in the middle of 2013 on the sample
of 64 listing Croatian companies, member of the
CSR- Corporate Social Responsibility group
In the sample was included 33% companies with core business in
the hospitality industry and tourism
ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe
3rd International Scientific Conference
Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
INFORMATION
FOR LONG TERM
DECISION MAKING
Sustainability reporting of Croatian companies
• 39 (19%) Croatian listed companies are member of HR BCSD
• 23 (11%) members of Croatian Business Council for Sustainable
Development (HR BSCD) disclose information about sustainability and
/ or environmental care, in special reports (HRBSCS website)
• 11 (5%) of them disclose their sustainability report on the web sites of
HR BCSD (last three years)
• Reported information are not prepared according to the same criteria,
it do not provide comparison between companies, because volume,
manner and character of reported information is not of high quality
level
Presented information are primarily oriented to satisfy formality, and not
to be really involved in process of achieving the goals of sustainable
development
(do not follow the goals of National Sustainable Development Strategy)
ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe
3rd International Scientific Conference
Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
INFORMATION
FOR SHORT TERM
DECISION MAKING
Responsibility segment reporting of Croatian listed companies
ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe
3rd International Scientific Conference
Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
Environment care in Croatian hotel companies
ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe
3rd International Scientific Conference
Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
Sustainability in the practice of Croatian hotel companies
ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe
3rd International Scientific Conference
Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
Sustainable development & business success
ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe
3rd International Scientific Conference
Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
SBSC - STRATEGY MAP, CONVERTING INTANGIBLE ASSETS INTO
TANGIBLE OUTCOMES – for long term decision making
ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe
3rd International Scientific Conference
Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
Question in process of long term decision making
The general approach of sustainability should be adjusted to the
specifics of the real circumstances of a particular hotel or hotel
company to answer to the following questions
– Which natural resources and services are used to produce and
offer target product and services?
– How should the costs and benefits of resource use be measured?
– How integrated are energy, motivation, knowledge, capacity for
relationships, and other forms of human capital?
– What types of and how much direct and indirect value does
integration create?
– How do the tourism products and services create value for local
individuals, social groups and their relationships, and how can this
be measured?
– Can existing manufactured stock and infrastructure be used in way
that requires fewer resources and more human creativity?
– Can these efficiencies and their value be measured?
– Can sustainable business practices be used to create or increase
value for a hotel’s or hotel company’s stakeholders?
ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe
3rd International Scientific Conference
Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
INFORMATION
FOR LONG- AND
SHORT TERM
DECISION MAKING
Sustainable reporting - regulations and standards
ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe
3rd International Scientific Conference
Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
"What can not be measured, it can not be improved"
Accounting tools provide information for long and short
term decision making, whether are achieving the strategic
goals, defined through sustainable strategies!
ToSEE - Tourism in South East Europe
3rd International Scientific Conference
Sustainable Tourism, Economic Development and Quality of Life
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management Opatija
Instead of conclusion:
COMPANIES SHOULD NO LONGER ASK
WHETHER, OR NOT PUBLISH A
CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY REPORTS,
THE EMPHASIS IS NOW ON THE
REPORTING QUALITY AND THE BEST
MEANS TO REACH RELEVANT AUDIENCES
KPMG, 2013
Thank you for your attention!
Prof. Milena Peršić, Ph.D.
Faculty of tourism and hospitality management (www.fthm.uniri.hr)
University of Rijeka (www.uniri.hr)
E-mail: milena.persic@fthm.hr
Tel.: 00385 51 294 698