Towards a Multi-level Framework of Collaborative Innovation in Tourism

Abstract

Tourism companies share resources and need to collaborate in order todevelop and innovate. However, in the literature on tourism innovation,many different types of collaboration can be found, and it is unclear whatrole they play for innovation. In the growing research field, scholars usesuch terms as ‘tourism network’, ‘destination’, or ‘innovation system’ orcombine some of them. The purpose of this paper is to describe and comparesix different perspectives on collaboration and discuss their role forinnovation in tourism. The review also discusses the type of mind-set thatunderpin the different types of collaboration ranging from the more personalizedfirm-to-firm collaboration to more generalized forms of collaborationwith stakeholders within an institutionalized environment.Tourism companies share resources and need to collaborate in order todevelop and innovate. However, in the literature on tourism innovation, many different types of collaboration can be found, and it is unclear what role they play for innovation. In the growing research field, scholars use such terms as ‘tourism network’, ‘destination’, or ‘innovation system’ or combine some of them. The purpose of this paper is to describe and compare six different perspectives on collaboration and discuss their role forinnovation in tourism. The review also discusses the type of mind-set that underpin the different types of collaboration ranging from the more personalized firm-to-firm collaboration to more generalized forms of collaboration with stakeholders within an institutionalized environment