Innovation in the Tourism Sector (Essay Sample)

Innovation in the Tourism Sector Student’s Name Institutional Name Course Code Professor Name Date The tourism and hospitality industry is among key industries other than agriculture and textiles that has provided employment for millions of individuals across the globe. The tourism industry having proved to be a promising industry has shifted towards tourism competitiveness which has seen improvement of the world economy. Tourism is a multidimensional industry that has both economic and social benefits which have helped globalization and also providing solutions to global problems. According to Glasco (2022), tourist destinations have focused on tourist innovation through research on consumer perspectives which have helped them to market the tourist sites luring more tourists and investors. Tüzünkan insists that innovation has proved to be a powerful tool in which global tourist destinations are using to market and educate both tourists and investors of beautiful sceneries and cultures of different global communities (Tüzünkan, 2017). Most countries have invested in innovation research which has led to the development of tourism innovation which in turn boosts economic growth through revenues collected from tourists. Besides marketing the tourist sites, tourism innovation is also a means of creating awareness of possibilities for investors to capitalize in creating a marketable culture. There are various methods of tourism innovation such as customer journey mapping and prototyping which have been applied by and to review by researchers and tourism investors which have proved to appeal to the tourists and investors. The core role of tourism innovation is creating a competitive advantage as the industry is considered to be among the highly competitive global industries. This paper seeks to identify the relevance of tourism innovation for tourist destination presently and in the future. The research will also highlight on innovation methods that have been applied and also highlight on the appropriateness of these methods towards creating memorable visitor experiences in tourism destinations. Tourism innovation is a collection of new concepts, ideas, practices and methods which are aimed towards serving the tourism industry. According to Sigalat-Signes et al (2020), it is evident that the scope of tourism innovation is based upon responding to the needs and preferences of both the international and local tourists which helps to create a memorable visitor experience for tourists. Preferably, tourism innovation can be considered to be a strategy that is used by tourist companies and investors in defending the businesses to keep up with international demands and developments that affect the tourist industry in particular. Tourism innovation aims at benefiting a pool of stakeholders that ranges from tourists, tourist companies, investors and even the locals of the country. This means that the main aim of tourism innovation is to create a reputation for the involved tourism industry or country which in turn promotes international tourism. Tourism innovation ensures that the development of tourism products which attract tourists to a destinations. Development of tourism products such as hotels and parks involves the local community which means that the second core aim of tourism innovation is creating economic opportunities for the local community leading to a stable economic growth. Tourism innovation entails the marketing and production of tourism products and services. The methods of production and marketing of tourism products are considered special and require diverse considerations compared to the production of normal consumer goods (Decelle, 2004),. Tourism innovation helps the producers and manufactures to collect credible tourist information such as preferences that help in designing marketable tourist products. Tourist products are designed to sell the experience rather than the tangible object or service provided. This means that the tourism agencies need to liaise with investors such as airlines and hotels in researching and providing the appropriate goods and services which in turn will result to a memorable visitor experience in the tourist destination. For example, a tourist visiting a particular destination is not limited to using products from one service provider rather is prone expending of different service and product providers. This means that tourism innovation is an all rounded activity that entails the cooperation of external and internal partners whom provide with quality tourist perceptions which are in turn used to develop and market tourist services. Tourism innovation is a package that aims at providing tourist products and services in the most natural methods and yet ensures that the tourist receives the full experience of the destination. Tourism product innovation is the major type of tourism innovation that entails introduction of new tourism products and services such as new hotel discounts and attractions respectively. According to Decelle (2004), tourism product innovation entails rebranding or redesigning an already marketable tourist product and service and makes it more appealing to the tourist. This means that through that through improvements of already existing tourist products, the tourist markets are set to make more profits as the already existing goods and services are introduced to new customers. However, Ahmet Yaris insists that product innovation especially related to tourism requires the developers to consider two main factors which include innovation of completely new products and services, and boosting the key products and services in the current tourism market (Ahmet Yarış, 2019). The second innovation tourism innovation method is tourism process innovation. This process entails highlighting on existing operations and identify on possible ways on which tourist experience can be improved by modifying these services. According to Ratten et al. (2021), process innovation entails the modification of processes such as information, communication and tourist guiding from choosing a tourist destination to the actual tourist experience provided. The authors provide the Spanish and Portuguese perspective of tourism innovations used for tourist destinations in the countries. Process innovation aims at reducing the delivery time and cost of a product or service and still offers a quality visiting experience to the tourist. The third main type of tourism innovation is tourism marketing innovation. According to Carvalho and Costa (2011), this process entails refining communication and information systems that help in marketing both existing or new tourist products and services. This form of marketing aims at introducing new products into the tourist market, boosting existing products and services to new customers and markets and establishing tourist products and services in the global tourist market. This form of innovation entails the use of social media sites, news agencies and existing market segments which help to introduce the new product to the existing market. This method of tourism innovation also ensures that tourists get to fully understand about a particular destination through information and communication channels such as social media. The final type of tourism innovation is known as managerial innovation which entails the branding and reorganization of the cooperate structure of a destination to suit the consumers’ needs. This type of innovation entails the development of internal and external cooperation measures such as travel policies that create a memorable visitor experience in the tourism destination (Maria, 2015). Managerial innovation entails two major scopes which include internal and external managerial innovation. Internal innovation entails organization of procedures that improve the provision of tourism services such as hoteliers. On the other hand, external managerial innovation entails the cooperation of external factors such as expanding international tourism businesses towards satisfying the preference of international tourists (Maria, 2015). Supporting innovation is aimed not only at improving tourism services and products, but also at growing tourism activity and improving its effects at the overall destination level. Nevertheless, there are objectives and principles that govern tourism innovation to ensure customer satisfaction across different global tourism destinations. According to Attia et al (2019), there are five principles that govern the scope of tourism innovation and marketing of tourism destinations. The first principle is ensuring and demonstrating the authenticity of tourism services and products. This means that the tourism sector of different destinations need to ensure value based products and services which help to attain efficiency of the tourist experience. The second principle of tourism innovation is integrating maintainable policies that help to maintain quality tourism products and service. The third principle of tourist innovation is elevating tourist experiences through proper marketing and execution of tourism innovation strategies. According to Trunfio and Campana (2019), expanding and investing in community based assets such as hotels and transport industry is the fourth principle that governs innovation strategies in the tourism sector. This means that innovation methods should ensure inclusion of both the public and private sector in which investors provide products and services that align to improvement of tourist experiences in the destination. The success of tourism innovation is measured by the successful application of external and internal drivers which provide the framework within which innovative thinking in and about the destination which relies upon the collection of necessary resources and information which boost the competitive edge of the tourism industry. According to Gardin...