Tourism Innovation

Technology, Sustainability and Creativity

Vanessa Ratten, Vitor Braga, Jose Álvarez-García, Maria de la Cruz del Rio-Rama, Vanessa Ratten, Vitor Braga, Jose Álvarez-García, Maria de la Cruz del Rio-Rama

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780429663284
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Tourism can take many different forms and types but increasingly it is viewed as one of the most innovative industries. This book showcases the innovations in tourism through a creativity, sustainability and technology perspective.

Tourism Innovation: Technology, Sustainability and Creativity addresses the growing use and importance of tourism innovation in society. Readers of this book will gain a global perspective on how the tourism industry is changing and taking advantage of emerging technologies, which will help them to foresee potential changes in the industry and plan for the future. Tourism innovation is defi ned as innovating in a cost-effi cient manner by taking into account the available resources. Most of the focus on tourism innovation has been on developing countries but it is also used by companies in other locations. This book explores the way in which tourism innovation differs from other types of innovation and offers a creative solution to issues about sustainability and the circular economy. In this vein, it includes chapters addressing issues related to the following but not limited subjects: co-creation in innovation, social issues in innovation, leadership and innovation, forms of innovation, government innovation and innovation research.

This book is suitable for tourism industry professionals, researchers and policy experts who are interested in how innovation is embedded in the tourism industry.

1

Tourism innovation

The role of technology, sustainability and creativity

Vanessa Ratten, Vitor Braga, José Álvarez-García and Maria de la Cruz del Rio-Rama

Introduction

Tourism is an economic and social phenomenon due to its ability to stimulate regional development (Franzidis, 2018). There has been increasing recognition of the way tourism can be innovative, particularly through creative means. This is evident in new services developed that integrate technology and sustainability initiatives. Despite the evident practical nature of tourism, there has been a slow recognition of its capability for innovation in the marketplace. This is due to the relatively recent developments of the industry in the global business environment. Barbe, Triay and Haufele (2016:167) state ‘tourism is a relatively new industry that has grown rapidly becoming one of the world’s largest providers of employment and contributing 9.1 per cent of the world gross domestic product’. This large growth is due to tourism products needing to be consumed at the destination and involve an experience. A challenge for tourism firms has been to manage this innovation process in order to derive the best results. In a tourism firm, it is expected that managers will need to successfully exploit new ideas through the use of innovation and creativity.

The subject of interest for many years, the role of innovation in tourism is growing in significance. There are two main reasons for the dramatic growth. Firstly, the tourism industry has been the launchpad for new technological innovations that have created new markets and products. Secondly, the tourism industry has a large number of small-sized enterprises making it competitive and thus requiring constant innovation. These enterprises include tourism providers such as hotels, travel agencies, government tourism authorities and educational providers. In conjunction with these tourism providers service quality in tourism is being changed with the advent of real time technology tools. Thus, there is a more proactive approach to tourism innovation by incorporating service quality technology devices.

Recent research by Vizcaino-Suarez and Diaz-Carrion (2018:1) states ‘tourism and development are transversal processes constructed out of asymmetric power relations between countries, organizations and groups of people with different positions in society’. These power relations have meant that the tourism sector is constantly changing due to its ability to be creative and use novel ideas. This is most prominent with sustainability and technology initiatives. Sustainability in tourism most often refers to environmental initiatives but also involves the management of resources in an efficient manner. Technology initiatives normally involve the use of new media and internet applications such as social media and artificial intelligence.

To understand tourism innovation, we need to understand the meaning of ‘tourism’. Defining the term ‘tourism’ is not as easy as it seems because it incorporates a number of different functions, from hotels to sightseeing. In addition, tourism can be further categorized into subtopics such as rural, surf and sport. To make the process of understanding the definition of tourism we use three main ways to define tourism – behavioural, functional and ecological. The behavioural definition involves the actions of individuals or entities that consider themselves part of the tourism industry. Certain practices are associated with tourism, such as travelling to see or experience a new place. The value placed on tourism has changed as people have more disposable income and leisure time. In addition, the cost of travelling has decreased in recent years. This has made it easier for people to travel and has also increased the number of people considered transnationals as they travel and live between countries. The functional definition involves the ‘doing’ part of tourism, for example, flying, driving or hiking in an area. There are different activities associated with tourism but most fall into the sun, sea, sex, adventure or culture categories. The ecological definition involves focusing on the environment in which the tourism takes place. Nature or ecotourism is a growing segment and a further distinct subcategory of tourism.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of some of the main issues regarding tourism innovation. The chapter is structured into a number of main sections, which provide a discussion about recent research trends in tourism innovation. The next section will state the rationale for the book, which highlights the linkage tourism innovation has with sustainability and technology research.

Rationale for book

The research on creativity in tourism is still at an embryonic stage with more attention needed on this interesting research area. The relatively recent emphasis on tourism creativity means there is a general lack of substantiated theories and frameworks on this topic. The chapters in this book are a response for a more diverse and innovative sub-field of tourism innovation that focuses on technology, sustainability and creativity. The chapters in this book will pave the way for future growth on the contribution of technology, sustainability and creativity to tourism innovation. This will enable more knowledge to be developed about the interconnections between tourism innovation, technology and creativity to evolve. Scholars working in tourism innovation will benefit from the research in this book, which provides a fundamental contribution to tourism studies.

This book confirms the importance of tourism innovation to society. We add to the discussion by emphasizing the role of technology, sustainability and creativity. More studies are needed to expand the definition of tourism innovation to provide different levels of analysis in order to provide a more comprehensive picture of the research field. Tourism innovation research has tended to be done by tourism scholars in tourism departments but there is a lack of research coming from scholars in entrepreneurship departments. This opens up opportunities for scholars to instead use an entrepreneurship theoretical framework in tourism to bring a more interdisciplinary perspective. As tourism innovation can be studied at the individual, firm or regional level, we can learn from entrepreneurship theories.

This book proposes that current approaches to tourism innovation need to incorporate more emphasis on technology, sustainability and creativity. New solutions to tourism problems can come from changing our assumptions about the role of tourism in society. The challenge for tourism researchers is to find new ways to build knowledge about innovation. The findings from each chapter in this book will serve to guide future research. Innovation is a common occurrence in the tourism industry and occurs both through new services and via changes in existing businesses. The propensity of a hotel or accommodation provider to be innovative varies but increasingly it involves the use of technology or sustainability initiatives. Ecotourism has become more popular as individuals want tourism to link with environmental and natural surroundings. Whilst most technology refers to information and communications providers it also relates to emerging topics such as biometrics and cybersecurity. Tourism providers are closely involved in facilitating technology innovation in both the design and development of services.

Innovation

Moscardo (2008:4) states ‘innovation can come in many forms but all of these share three common elements- creativity, a problem-solving approach and a new way of thinking’. The main positive benefits of innovation are an improvement in profits, customer satisfaction and branding. Most innovation requires the support of staff, customers and stakeholders in the tourism sector. This is due to the complex way tourism services are provided and their role in communities. The main types of innovation are product, process, service, marketing and technological. There is a wide range of activities in the tourism industry from hotel accommodation to bed and breakfasts and resort living. Most tourism services share the same traits of intangibility and interactivity. As a consequence, some tourism services do not happen in a vacuum but are rather the result of interactions in the economy.

Adams, Bessant and Phelps (2006:22) states ‘the term “innovation” is notoriously ambiguous and lacks either a single definition or measure’. A broad definition of innovation is ‘the implementation of a new or significantly improved product (good or service), or process, or new marketing method, or a new organizational method in business practices, workplace organization or external relations’ (OECD, 2005:46). Albernathy and Clark (1985) suggested that there are four main types of innovation, which influence economic systems: architectural, market niche, regular and revolutionary. Architectural innovation involves changing existing tourism systems by integrating new market linkages. This includes the use of new technology concepts that change the way innovation is viewed (Medina-Munoz, Medina-Munoz and Collazos Zuniga, 2013). Market niche innovation involves new market opportunities that focus on distinct product or service categories. This means focusing on established market systems by finding gaps that lead to new opportunities. Regular innovation involves normal improvements that result in change. Technology services are the subject of regular innovation in tourism firms due to the need to upgrade system requirements. Revolutionary innovation involves doing something out of the ordinary to bring about a major change. Revolutionary innovation will lead to some established practices becoming obsolete.

The different types of innovation are incorporated within innovation systems, which are defined as ‘the complex interactions between firms, people and institutions, which influence knowledge transfer and innovation policies’ (Weidenfeld, 2013:192). The aim of innovation systems is to generate and diffuse knowledge that can have flow on effects in the environment. These effects are called knowledge spillovers and occur when information is inadvertently shared amongst educators, government, business and citizens. The level of knowledge spillovers will influence how much knowledge is transferred and how it is exploited in the economy. Entities that cooperate can facilitate the application of knowledge to new contexts. In addition, the nature of linkages between firms will determine their ability to develop knowledge bases. A degree of proximity to other firms can help facilitate information exchange. Fundamental to understanding whether there is innovation is the acceptance of new ideas and the capacity to make ideas into realities.

Tourism innovation systems are referred to as ‘the parts and aspects of the economic structure and institutional set-up affecting learning and innovation in tourism firms’ (Sundbo, Orfila-Sintes and Sorensen, 2007:93). Having synergetic relationships between tourism stakeholders can lead to better forms of tourism innovation. This is supported by having the right kind of macro environment in terms of politics, technology and social conditions (Weidenfeld, 2013). The path of an innovation tends to start from the originator then diffuse out into the environment (Raco, 1999). The filtering of an innovation will be impacted by contact either face-to-face or electronically with others in the innovation ecosystem. The level of innovation in a system will be determined by the resilience of tourism providers to change and be creative. Biggs, Hall and Stoeckl (2012:646) define resilience as ‘the ability of a system to maintain and adapt its essential structure and function in the face of disturbance while maintaining its identity’. This concept of resilience is part of a tourism provider’s innovation capability.

There are three main stages in the development of a radical product innovation capability: discovery, incubation and acceleration (O’Connor and DeMartino, 2006). The discovery stage involves finding new ideas and then elaborating on them to find appropriate paths to take. This involves identifying ideas that are evaluated to likely have market potential. The quality of an idea is important and requires a process of ideation. Incubation involves testing and refining the idea in order to implement it into the marketplace. Implementing innovation is defined as ‘the process of gaining targeted organizational members appropriate and committed use of an innovation’ (Klein and Sorra, 1996:1055). Implementation is crucial in making sure creative ideas survive the incubation process.

Part of this process is growing the idea by shaping it into the right mould. This stage is critical in refining the idea to ascertain potential partnerships. The accelerator stage means moving the idea past the discovery and incubation stage to push it into the market. Slater, Mohr and Sengupta (2014:552) states that a radical product innovation capability involves ‘a dynamic capability, one that enables the organization to maintain alignment with rapidly evolving customer needs in high-velocity environments’. By accelerating the idea it means that the idea enters the market and takes on its own path through a process of tourism innovation.

Tourism innovation

Tourism innovation is a new imperative for profiting from creative ideas. Weidenfeld (2013:195) states ‘tourism innovations are rarely major breakthroughs for the entire industry but more often constitute smaller changes or improvements’. The organizational cultures of tourism providers need to focus on innovation. Knowledge flows in the tourism sector lead to the acceleration of innovation. Whilst the concept of tourism innovation has proliferated in the literature, there is some criticism at the lack of a distinctive definition of tourism innovation. There has been a tendency to join the tourism and innovation literatures without taking into account the unique topic of tourism. Innovation in tourism tends to be in the form of product or marketing differentiation that is based on creativity (Brackenburg, 2006). This includes product line extensions or variations to existing product offerings. As there are a number of intermediaries such as tour operators embedded in the tourism sector, innovations can occur through vertical or horizontal collaboration in the value chain (Hall and Williams, 2008). Vertical collaboration through suppliers can facilitate innovation in services and payment systems. Horizontal collaboration can result in new alliances or partnerships that encourage innovation.

Dinis (2006:13) states ‘the success of any innovation (and consequently the competitiveness of firms/regions) depends on its marketing orientation, that is, on its ability to adjust or (still better) anticipate market tendencies’. Tourism innovation can be categorized on a continuum from incremental to radical impacts. Incremental forms of tourism innovation will have little impact on market practices as they are considered minor changes. Radical forms of tourism innovation have more impact on firms and individuals as they revolutionize and substantially change market practices. To understand the effect of tourism innovation there needs to be an assessment of how attractive the innovation is to the market. This will lead to a better understanding about the likely responsiveness of the market to the tourism innovation. Institutional innovations in tourism refer to ‘new or embracing collaborative/organizational structure and legal framework which redirects or enhances the business in fields of tourism’ (Mei, Arcodia and Ruhanen, 2015:1173). Some tourism innovation needs to be communicated in a way that institutions, individuals and businesses understand its necessity. This involves sharing information about the likely potential of the tourism innovation and how quickly it will be adopted in the market; by assessing its likely acceptance and ease of use tourism can be innovated in the appropriate manner. The disadvantages associated with tourism innovation are the lack of resources or expertise to use the innovation or a resistance to change. This can create problems in fulfilling market objectives for tourism firms and their overall competitiveness.

Tejada and Moreno (2013:750) states ‘the diffusion of innovation among tourism enterprises presents a low propensity for the development of new products and processes’. In order for tourism innovation to occur there needs to be external resources and leadership. Managerial or organizational innovation in tourism are defined as ‘new or significantly improved ways of organizing internal collaboration related to a firm’s business practices, workplace organization or external relations’ (Mei, Arcodia and Ruhanen, 2015:1173). We see resolving the inconsistencies between tourism innovation and entrepreneurship research as being one of the most critical paths for future research endeavours and for managers working in the tourism industry.

There is debate in the literature as to whether the size of an organization impacts the level and type of innovation. This is reflected in some research suggesting that larger organizations have more resources to spend on developing ideas (Siegel and Renko, 2012). Larger tourism firms are viewed as being able to rely on their name and reputation to fund new ideas. However, smaller firms are viewed by some researchers as being more innovative due to their ability to move forward quickly with ideas. This is reflected in small firms being more dynamic and flexible with their approach to innovation (Eggers, Hansen and Davis, 2012). Both sma...