Controlling for sustainablity : The role of a public organisation in enabling regional sustainable visits

Enabling sustainable visits requires contributions from various actors in alocal society. In this chapter, we explore how a local public organisationmay contribute. We do so by using the theoretical concepts and perspec-tives of accounting and management control, an academic sub-disciplinewithin the field of business studies. The case presented in the chapter isRegion Gotland. It is a public organisation that, among others, is responsi-ble for initiating a sustainable development of the local hospitality industry.Nonetheless, many of the society services that Region Gotland provides arealso of fundamental importance for the hospitality industry. This meansthat if the hospitality industry on Gotland is to realise sustainable visits,the organisation Region Gotland has to contribute in more ways than justbeing an initiator. Two main conclusions are presented. The first is that it isnecessary for Region Gotland to develop an internal management controlsystem that integrates and addresses sustainability in all of its operations.We conclude that currently that is not the case, but it can happen if RegionGotland embraces and balances the financial and non-financial logics of itscontrol system. The second conclusion is that if Region Gotland does that,it may also contribute to local sustainable visits as they inspire companiesin the hospitality industry. For example, it can demonstrate how compa-nies can integrate sustainability in the control of their businesses.