Crisis: a driver for tourism innovation and service design?

Abstract

Tourism entrepreneurs adapted to regulations during COVID-19 by introducing creative solutions. The crisis was said to be a unique opportunity for innovating sustainable businesses. This study investigates crisis as a driver for innovation and its relevance to service design. Interviews with entrepreneurs are the empirical base that highlights that finetuning existing services is an established approach instead of innovative service design. Few expressed lessons were learned from the creative solutions made during the pandemic, suggesting that strategies for innovation need to be developed.