Tourism and Innovation

Tourism Diversification and Its Implications for Smart Specialisation

“…Since tourism actors are often central in inter-organisational networks, characterised by dynamic linkages across various actors [19], they can potentially lead self-discovery processes along the supply chain. This is the case in Apulia, Italy, where a regionally integrated system of actors including universities and research centres specialising in tourism and related technologies, to companies and institutions directly and indirectly involved in tourism shape the boundaries of the tourism supply chain were built [39].…”

“…Links between tourism and other sectors, which are technologically unrelated can result in more breakthrough innovations, such as new connections between tourism, ICTs, the art and design sector and gastronomical activities, which make the tourism industry move to an experience good sector with higher returns [91]. Technological development has diversified highly urbanised and industrial landscapes by endowing them with tourism rural and natural spaces [19].…”

“…Connectivity between firms includes transactions associated with trade, transportation, flows of passengers, information and finance, knowledge interactions, management and international decision-making capabilities [7,25,97]. Tourism can link regional networks and individual actors to other regions/ countries by providing infrastructure, accommodation and communication facilities [19]. Knowledge and information from tourists, suppliers or producers may spread beyond tourism specialised territories, activating externalities and facilitate international innovation networks, allowing access to deeper knowledge flows provided to both tourism and non-tourism firms [22,47].…”

“…Tourism innovations can constitute product, process, organisational/managerial and market innovations as well as more tourism-specific distribution innovations and institutional innovations [18]. They often constitute smaller changes or improvements rather than entirely new products and/or new markets [19]. At the destination regional level, new experimental packages of products and services constitute innovation, which is often developed by collaboration between tourism and/or non-tourism actors from the business, public and non-profit sectors [10].…”

Building Customer Loyalty in Rural Destinations as a Pre-Condition of Sustainable Competitiveness

“…The key differences between the two concepts relate to scale. Sustainable tourism only refers to the application of sustainability concepts at the level of the tourism industry and the consequent social, environment, cultural, and economic effects, whereas sustainable development operates at a broader scale that incorporates all aspects of human interactions with Earth's environment [9]. Sustainable development creates the preconditions for sustainable tourism development and tourism can contribute to the sustainable, but also unsustainable development of a destination.…”