Discovering the Intangible Innovation of Knowledge Sharing for Improving Rural Tourism Destinations' Competitiveness: A Collaborative Approach

Abstract

The study is possibly the first to examine the role of knowledge sharing in enhancing the competitiveness of rural tourism destinations, with a particular emphasis on sustainable management, destination marketing efforts, and comparative and competitive advantage. 315 valid questionnaires were collected from domestic and international visitors to Sarawak's five rural tourism destinations. A PLS-SEM approach was used to evaluate the developed model, with PLS estimation and hypothesis testing performed using the WarpPLS software. Interestingly, the statistical findings indicate that knowledge sharing has a significant effect on rural tourism destinations' competitiveness. The findings unavoidably contributed to the fundamental concept of destination competitiveness by identifying knowledge sharing as a resource for developing rural tourism destination competitiveness and its contribution to sustainable management, destination marketing efforts, as well as the comparative and competitive advantage of rural tourism destinations that are currently underdeveloped. This study contributes a comprehensive picture of how an intangible innovation can help develop a tourism destination's competitiveness. Future research should concentrate on identifying appropriate platforms to facilitate knowledge sharing among tourism stakeholders.