Within the framework of a quantitative research approach a questionnaire was sent to 60
small tourism companies (companies with less than 30 employees) located in the district of
Ostrobothnia in Finland. There are two reasons why a questionnaire was used to collect data
from the tourism companies. Firstly, the sustainable tourism principles on a company level
can be concretized and structured questions can be asked. Secondly, it was of interest to use a
research approach that would facilitate a generalization of the results. A definition of ST was
not presented to the respondents, but their individual frame of reference was accepted. Out of
the many dimensions STD embrace, environmental matters were put in focus. A sample of 60
was thought to be enough in this exploratory study on the assumption that the response rate
would be at least 50 percent. This response level was not reached, but a response level of 46
percent can be accepted considering the fact that no follow-up letter was sent out due to budget
limitations. The many different types of companies that answered the questionnaire and the
large geographical distribution of the tourism companies in Ostrobothnia offer a good basis for
analysis2.