Innovation Applied to Community Tourism

This chapter intended to perceive the knowledge produced by the scientific community about tourism, innovation, and community tourism. In order to achieve this objective, a search was carried out in the SCOPUS database, which provided with more than 30 thousand articles from the year 1857 to 2019. It is noticed, however, that the publications that report community tourism and innovation are scarcer, which demonstrates the lack of research within the three areas. It is noticed that for future works it is interesting to insert other sources of research, such as Sicielo and Latinex, and give more visibility to productions in other languages, which gives a broader understand of other publications outside the English-speaking world.

Small Businesses Like a Sign of Innovation and Sustainable Development in the Community Tourism Centers in Santa Elena

Small tourism enterprises play a key role in generating income and local development of a community in rural areas through community tourism (TC) ideas, services, processes, and products. These have been generated in the communities of San Pedro, Valdivia, Dos Mangas, and Sacachún from the province of Santa Elena, which deserve to be registered through empirical research. The results show that the population is interested in working towards the sustainable development of its natural and cultural resources. This interest is transforming the tourist activity in their responsible daily lives, and they are committed to caring for the environment. Therefore, the people's own lifestyles are highlighted in a scene of tranquility and harmony.

Influence of Innovative Processes in the Competitiveness of Tourist Destination

Tourism, with a high economic and social significance for the economy of many countries, is one of the fastest developing fields. A new challenge of transition to an innovative way of developing tourism industry is strongly proposed with the result of existing conditions of fierce rivalry in the field, economic and political instability in many regions, including the Republic of Uzbekistan, the fast-growing needs and demands of tourists. Therefore, destinations, importantly, have to determine their competitiveness to figure out their strengths and weaknesses and thereby develop their future conditions. The authors discuss the issues related to the innovation in tourism destinations and present its main directions in the sector, as well as factors affecting the innovative development of the fieldin Khorezm region of Uzbekistan. Moreover, the chapter illustrates the principles and basic requirements for the system of managing innovative activities in tourism destinations at macro, mesa, and microeconomic levels.

The Valorization of the Surface Waters on the Inland Regions in Differentiated Tourism Products

The purpose of this study is to address the importance of water resources in tourism and leisure activities, to establish a framework of activities in inland waters and their meaning in the territory of the Serra da Estrela, namely within the scope of Estrela Geopark. Recognizing tourism as one of the pillars of a UNESCO world geopark, the image and brand of this destination is enhanced by the classification obtained, which drives the strengthening of partnerships; collaboration and cooperation between stackholders; the appreciation and diffusion of its heritage and culture; encouraging increased visitor numbers, consumption of goods and services, and decreasing seasonality of tourism. The attraction of its waters for tourism and leisure activities represents a resource for the strengthening of the economic activities within the region with concrete effects on trade, hotels, and local restaurants, in view of the practices involved, the natural and cultural contexts that the territory offers, and the opportunities for new activities.

Entrepreneurial Eco-Systems for Sustainable Community-Based Tourism Development in Albania

The tourism sector in Albania has been upheld as a government development priority and a promising window for overall local economic development. Although these ambitions have started to shape the governance of the sector, the inherent challenges on a governance level have meant that most of the tourism development on a local level is being led by local initiatives and the private sector service providers. These initiatives are often fueled by entrepreneurial drive and are sustained by a network of local community actors, giving rise to applied models of sustainable tourism development, as shown by numerous agritourist enterprises emerging across Albania. Through a case study approach, this chapter will focus on the role entrepreneurial eco-systems rooted in local communities can play in the development of sustainable tourism models in Albania.

Responsibility and Social Innovation in Tourism Companies in Mexico

All over the world, institutions and organizations that recognize the social responsibility of companies are identified. They work on social innovation, which is companies' capacities to influence problems, generating synergies between the various sectors of society. In this research, a qualitative methodology was applied to a sample of companies from Puebla (Mexico) and the region to identify innovative practices of corporate social responsibility in the tourism sector and related companies. The central question that guides this research is, through which strategies or actions are companies in the tourism sector socially responsible and innovative? Therefore, the purpose is to show the good practices of different companies in the tourism sector in Puebla (Mexico) as well as their areas of opportunity and therefore strategies to strengthen responsibility and social innovation in the sector.

What We (Do Not) Know About Research on Innovation in Hotels

This chapter performs a bibliometric analysis on innovation in hotels field. More specifically, it maps the current research front on innovation in hotels field based on 287 papers published in refereed journals indexed to the Scopus database. Using the VOSviewer software and the bibliographic coupling method, it was possible to identify and systematize the main research streams of this field: 1) technological innovation, 2) sustainable innovation, 3) innovative work behavior, 4) market orientation' role in promoting innovation, 5) knowledge-based resources as a driver of innovation and performance as an outcome of innovation, 6) service innovation, 7) knowledge sharing and management as a key factor for innovation, 8) innovation ambidexterity, 9) innovation in time of crisis, and 10) learning approach as a source of innovation. The findings presented in this chapter will enable future authors studying innovation in hotels to focus their studies more effectively.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Communities for Women Who Travel

This study addresses innovation in the community of women who travel alone by analyzing a platform where women share lodging facilities. This platform, in addition to providing accommodation services, allows users to share experiences through collaborative tourism and contact between female travelers. This chapter focused on the applicability of this innovation to the accommodation market. For that, it is essential to understand the many reasons that lead women to rely on a unique tool for accommodation, understanding the relationship between market, platform, and users in the modern world. This study used primary sources, interviews with the platform's founder, and questionnaires administered to users to understand innovation from the perspective of a sensitive community that wants to travel safely and the strategic positioning of the platform within the market, in addition to identifying concepts that describe the relationship of users with the platform.

Tourism of Community Base as an Instrument for Local Development and Social Innovation

Dealing with tourism, especially community-based tourism, requires an understanding of its concept and its relationship to local development. Additionally, community-based tourism presents itself as an example of social innovation, in view of its important function of aggregating values, social responsibility, and sustainable means of economic development. In this sense, this work aims to understand the relationship of residents with community-based tourism practiced in the coastal area of the extreme west of the state of Ceará, located in Northeast Brazil, and the perspective of residents on the importance of local tourism and its relationship with elements of social innovation. The research is classified as qualitative and the collection instrument was consolidated through the application of semi-structured interviews. The collected information was submitted to the treatment of the data through the technique of content analysis. The results are about the perception of these subjects about the tourist activities practiced in the city of Acaraú, Ceará.

The Attractiveness of Extreme Wind Sports Linked to Social Responsibility

The State of Ceará, located in the Brazilian Northeast, has a high tourist potential due to the beauty of its beaches and the great geomorphological differences within the territory. In addition, there are warm winds that allow the practice of wind sports throughout the state seacoast. This chapter presents three categories of analysis here interrelated with planning: wind sports, the use of social projects to improve the tourist experience, and the participation of the local community in social projects. The main objective of this chapter is to present innovations that might be implemented with the creation of a tourist route based on existing structures in the state of Ceará. The focus is to use the attractiveness of extreme wind sports linked to social responsibility (NGOs) and the strengthening of the tourist image. This chapter presents the social projects that relate tourism, social projects, and planning. Thru this job, the authors hope to give light to other destinations, which might perform the practice of benchmarking to face similar problems.