The innovation journey of new-to-tourism entrepreneurs

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Título: The innovation journey of new-to-tourism entrepreneurs
Autor/es: Rodriguez-Sanchez, Isabel | Brotons, Matilde | Williams, Allan M.
Grupo/s de investigación o GITE: Planificación y Gestión Sostenible del Turismo
Centro, Departamento o Servicio: Universidad de Alicante. Instituto Universitario de Investigaciones Turísticas
Palabras clave: New- to- tourism entrepreneurs | Tourism innovation | Innovation process | Barriers | Interactions | Innovation ecosystem
Área/s de conocimiento: Análisis Geográfico Regional
Fecha de publicación: oct-2014
Resumen: The role of entrepreneurs as innovators and agents of change in tourism is still a neglected topic within the emergent research agenda of tourism innovation studies. The process of innovation has often been referred to as a "black box" and the studies of tourism innovation have mainly focused attention on the input (knowledge, capital etc.) and output of the process (nature and types of innovation, impact on performance etc.). This paper focuses on the entrepreneur, the key actor in the innovation process which is conceived as different stages of a journey that begins from idea generation and ends with its implementation, with varying degrees of success or failure. Tourism researchers have demonstrated the considerable diversity amongst tourism entrepreneurs, but that research has focused more on their motivations and resources than their role in innovation. One especially neglected strand of entrepreneurship is those who are new-to-tourism. Consequently, this study has two aims. First, it explores the characteristics and motivations of a sample of mainly new- to- tourism entrepreneurs. What motivates these entrepreneurs to invest in tourism and what distinctive knowledge and experiences to they bring to tourism innovation?. It also emphasizes the relational nature of innovation, for innovation is not the outcome of heroic individualism, but is a social and interactive process involving individuals with diverse talents and skills. Second, the study also aims to understand the complexity of the innovation process or journey, the barriers encountered at different stages, and how these are overcome. The two-step research method is based on a sample of entrepreneurs participating in a public programme in Spain, the Emprendetur Programme, which provides subsidized loans to fund entrepreneurs with innovative tourism projects. First, the preliminary stop is to identify the entrepreneurs' professional profiles and careers, using business networks such as LinkedIn, with data being corroborated by the entrepreneurs themselves through Skype video interviews. Secondly, semi structured interviews will provide opportunities for the entrepreneurs to narrate the stories of their innovation journeys, and reconstruct the challenges encountered at each decisive stage, and how these were overcome. Innovation has become a policy mantra in recent years, but the process of implementation is populated by diverse groups of entrepreneurs who marshal varied resources in order to overcome a range of internal and external barriers. This study identifies key features of the distinctive non-linear innovation journeys of the enigmatic group of new-to-tourism entrepreneurs. These demonstrate not only the importance of their distinctive human capital, but also how this is valorized through complex interactions with other individuals and agencies with complementary resources, which collectively constitute an innovation ecosystem.
Descripción: Presentation to 23rd Nordic Symposium on Tourism and Hospitality Research, Copenhagen Business School, 1-4 October 2014
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10045/40922
Idioma: eng
Tipo: info:eu-repo/semantics/conferenceObject
Revisión científica: no
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