The InnoWellen Case Study: The Use of Web-Based Idea Competitions as a Tool of Stakeholder Participation in the Leisure Industry

Abstract

The InnoWellen case study is about stakeholder participation in the innovation process of tourism destinations and its challenges. The web-based idea competition ‘InnoWellen.de’ was created using the crowdsourcing web-platform ‘unserAller’ from the company Innosabi GmbH. On this platform, the public was asked to contribute new ideas on how to make the local swimming pool of Oberammergau more attractive for visitors. The findings of this study show that crowdsourcing can be successfully used to initiate public participation in coming up with innovative ideas on how to transform destinations. The results of this study also show that participation can easily be controlled/regulated through the contents of the tasks given. Yet, there is evidence that people who are more strongly affected by a project would also respond differently, e.g. locals would feel the need to participate in a more comprehensive way rather than just sticking to a specific task. It also shows that crowdsourcing is an especially effective way of determining the various existing interests and the different concerns new stakeholders of a destination have. Lastly, on the basis of this case study, recommendations can be made to optimize the effectiveness of similar crowdsourcing projects.