Enabling Sustainable Adaptation and Transitions: Exploring New Roles of a Tourism Innovation Intermediary in Andalusia, Spain
Tourism is a major global and local industry creating value through services that are enhanced and enabled through intermediaries that support innovation in the sector. This exploratory case study examines the roles and activities of a publicly funded tourism innovation intermediary for small medium...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Tourism and Hospitality |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5768/4/3/24 |
| _version_ | 1797576522155950080 |
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| author | Thorsten Roser Ksenija Kuzmina Mikko Koria |
| author_facet | Thorsten Roser Ksenija Kuzmina Mikko Koria |
| author_sort | Thorsten Roser |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Tourism is a major global and local industry creating value through services that are enhanced and enabled through intermediaries that support innovation in the sector. This exploratory case study examines the roles and activities of a publicly funded tourism innovation intermediary for small medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and professionals in Andalucia, Spain. We note the gap in knowledge on how intermediaries may best support stakeholders in achieving resilience and sustainability in transitions in tourism service ecosystems. Building on interviews, reports, and observations, this study finds that the intermediary has successfully supported its stakeholders in enhancing their adaptability in the current service ecosystem. There is less evidence of achieving deliberate transformations towards long-term sustainability and resilience. As the intermediary is uniquely positioned at the meso-level of the regional tourism service ecosystem, this study proposes exploring engagement to cover both macro and micro-level activities to enable moving towards becoming a transition intermediary and a regional sustainability catalyst. This study furthermore proposes an expanded range of roles and activities for the intermediary to enable moving towards resilience and sustainability, while contributing to the understanding of innovation intermediaries supporting sustainability in the tourism sector. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T21:53:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1c21d55a9f9f48a5b5964e027b10ef4f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-5768 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T21:53:19Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Tourism and Hospitality |
| spelling | doaj.art-1c21d55a9f9f48a5b5964e027b10ef4f2023-11-19T13:14:07ZengMDPI AGTourism and Hospitality2673-57682023-06-014339040510.3390/tourhosp4030024Enabling Sustainable Adaptation and Transitions: Exploring New Roles of a Tourism Innovation Intermediary in Andalusia, SpainThorsten Roser0Ksenija Kuzmina1Mikko Koria2Institute for Design Innovation, Loughborough University London, London E20 3BS, UKInstitute for Design Innovation, Loughborough University London, London E20 3BS, UKInstitute for Design Innovation, Loughborough University London, London E20 3BS, UKTourism is a major global and local industry creating value through services that are enhanced and enabled through intermediaries that support innovation in the sector. This exploratory case study examines the roles and activities of a publicly funded tourism innovation intermediary for small medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and professionals in Andalucia, Spain. We note the gap in knowledge on how intermediaries may best support stakeholders in achieving resilience and sustainability in transitions in tourism service ecosystems. Building on interviews, reports, and observations, this study finds that the intermediary has successfully supported its stakeholders in enhancing their adaptability in the current service ecosystem. There is less evidence of achieving deliberate transformations towards long-term sustainability and resilience. As the intermediary is uniquely positioned at the meso-level of the regional tourism service ecosystem, this study proposes exploring engagement to cover both macro and micro-level activities to enable moving towards becoming a transition intermediary and a regional sustainability catalyst. This study furthermore proposes an expanded range of roles and activities for the intermediary to enable moving towards resilience and sustainability, while contributing to the understanding of innovation intermediaries supporting sustainability in the tourism sector.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5768/4/3/24sustainable tourismresilienceservice ecosystemsinnovation intermediariesadaptationtransformation |
| spellingShingle | Thorsten Roser Ksenija Kuzmina Mikko Koria Enabling Sustainable Adaptation and Transitions: Exploring New Roles of a Tourism Innovation Intermediary in Andalusia, Spain Tourism and Hospitality sustainable tourism resilience service ecosystems innovation intermediaries adaptation transformation |
| title | Enabling Sustainable Adaptation and Transitions: Exploring New Roles of a Tourism Innovation Intermediary in Andalusia, Spain |
| title_full | Enabling Sustainable Adaptation and Transitions: Exploring New Roles of a Tourism Innovation Intermediary in Andalusia, Spain |
| title_fullStr | Enabling Sustainable Adaptation and Transitions: Exploring New Roles of a Tourism Innovation Intermediary in Andalusia, Spain |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enabling Sustainable Adaptation and Transitions: Exploring New Roles of a Tourism Innovation Intermediary in Andalusia, Spain |
| title_short | Enabling Sustainable Adaptation and Transitions: Exploring New Roles of a Tourism Innovation Intermediary in Andalusia, Spain |
| title_sort | enabling sustainable adaptation and transitions exploring new roles of a tourism innovation intermediary in andalusia spain |
| topic | sustainable tourism resilience service ecosystems innovation intermediaries adaptation transformation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5768/4/3/24 |
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