Knowledge creation and transfer in tourism innovation networks

Abstract

In the last decades, the role of knowledge in the world economy has been acknowledged as fundamental as a production factor, and as the main asset for the development of innovation. Bearing this in mind, knowledge creation and transfer are crucial processes, and innovation networks provide the necessary conditions for these processes to occur and to allow tourism destinations to achieve high innovation performance and overall competitiveness. This research applies Social Network Analysis to characterise the networked dynamics of knowledge creation and transfer within tourism destinations’ innovation networks. Considering two Portuguese regions, a survey was applied to institutions responsible for tourism innovation in order to collect relational data. Results demonstrate that knowledge transfer involves a higher number of actors than knowledge creation. It also demonstrates that knowledge producers and education providers have a more significant role in knowledge creation, while public tourism organisations also stand out in knowledge transfer.