Editorial: Innovation in Tourism (November 2016)

Student living labs as innovation arenas for sustainable tourism

“…Human resources are the key barrier to innovation in tourism, relating to, for instance, 'insufficient skills, competencies and low formal qualifications, as well as motivation to engage in innovation processes' (Najda-Janoszka & Kopera, 2014, p. 199). The difficulties in creating a collaborative innovation culture (McPhee, Guimont, & Lapointe, 2016) often means that new ideas are abandoned at a conceptual stage (Najda-Janoszka & Kopera, 2014). Maybe as a result, most innovations in tourism come forth with the influence of, or as a consequence of, other and wider innovations outside the tourism sector (Bramwell & Lane, 2012;Hjalager, 2015).…”

“…In the interactions with the other participants in the same working space, they were able to reflect on their own situation, get continuous feedback and reach higher learning loops (Argyris & Schön, 1996). Further, the need for creative activity could be satisfied through social interaction (Sanders & Simons, 2009), which resulted in 'a spirit of cooperative innovation' (Kolb, 2015, p. 5) and a culture based on trust that is often missing in the tourism industry (McPhee et al, 2016). The setting of different types of companies also connects to that other sectors, outside tourism, influence the tourism industry; firms may even copy what is already out there and place it in their own context (Hjalager, 2010).…”