Tourism Innovation in the Adriatic-Ionian Region: Questioning the Understanding of Innovation

Today, tourism as the most important global service industry faces many challenges, which call for innovations. Innovation is largely fostered through a number of European Union (EU) funding programs. In tourism, innovations most often include production innovations (new products and services), pro...

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Main Authors: Daniela Angelina Jelinčić, Sanja Tišma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Association of Geographers 2022-12-01
Series:European Journal of Geography
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/268
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author Daniela Angelina Jelinčić
Sanja Tišma
author_facet Daniela Angelina Jelinčić
Sanja Tišma
author_sort Daniela Angelina Jelinčić
collection DOAJ
description Today, tourism as the most important global service industry faces many challenges, which call for innovations. Innovation is largely fostered through a number of European Union (EU) funding programs. In tourism, innovations most often include production innovations (new products and services), process innovations (new ways of delivering tourist services), logistical innovations (new ways of providing products/services to tourists), and market innovations (new marketing methods or market behavior). In order to detect the number and types of tourism innovations funded by the EU in the Adriatic-Ionian region (AIR), a research has been done throughout 2020-2022. The purpose of the research was to detect projects fostering innovations in sustainable tourism, analyze their innovation capacity and propose possible policy enhancements. Research methodology included a desk research and a survey. In total, 88 projects were detected fostering different types of innovations. An uneven geographical distribution and financial incentives for innovative projects were detected. Also, the lack of clear understanding of the concept of innovation has been found not only by funded projects but also by seconded national administration in the AIR. The research results showed that financial incentives, although welcome, do not always foster innovations. Rather, an effective governance should be in place to tailor the appropriate financial incentives and guide the process. In this way, mediocre solutions are avoided. The contribution of the research is seen in the guidelines for growth and improvements in the development of innovation in sustainable tourism in the AIR.
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spelling doaj-art-19495b15dd724d718ff1944bd07a929b2025-01-06T06:58:56ZengEuropean Association of GeographersEuropean Journal of Geography1792-13412410-74332022-12-0113510.48088/ejg.d.jel.13.5.097.114Tourism Innovation in the Adriatic-Ionian Region: Questioning the Understanding of InnovationDaniela Angelina Jelinčić0Sanja Tišma1Institute for Development and International RelationsInstitute for Development and International Relations Today, tourism as the most important global service industry faces many challenges, which call for innovations. Innovation is largely fostered through a number of European Union (EU) funding programs. In tourism, innovations most often include production innovations (new products and services), process innovations (new ways of delivering tourist services), logistical innovations (new ways of providing products/services to tourists), and market innovations (new marketing methods or market behavior). In order to detect the number and types of tourism innovations funded by the EU in the Adriatic-Ionian region (AIR), a research has been done throughout 2020-2022. The purpose of the research was to detect projects fostering innovations in sustainable tourism, analyze their innovation capacity and propose possible policy enhancements. Research methodology included a desk research and a survey. In total, 88 projects were detected fostering different types of innovations. An uneven geographical distribution and financial incentives for innovative projects were detected. Also, the lack of clear understanding of the concept of innovation has been found not only by funded projects but also by seconded national administration in the AIR. The research results showed that financial incentives, although welcome, do not always foster innovations. Rather, an effective governance should be in place to tailor the appropriate financial incentives and guide the process. In this way, mediocre solutions are avoided. The contribution of the research is seen in the guidelines for growth and improvements in the development of innovation in sustainable tourism in the AIR. https://eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/268innovationtourismsustainabilityAdriatic-Ionian region
spellingShingle Daniela Angelina Jelinčić
Sanja Tišma
Tourism Innovation in the Adriatic-Ionian Region: Questioning the Understanding of Innovation
European Journal of Geography
innovation
tourism
sustainability
Adriatic-Ionian region
title Tourism Innovation in the Adriatic-Ionian Region: Questioning the Understanding of Innovation
title_full Tourism Innovation in the Adriatic-Ionian Region: Questioning the Understanding of Innovation
title_fullStr Tourism Innovation in the Adriatic-Ionian Region: Questioning the Understanding of Innovation
title_full_unstemmed Tourism Innovation in the Adriatic-Ionian Region: Questioning the Understanding of Innovation
title_short Tourism Innovation in the Adriatic-Ionian Region: Questioning the Understanding of Innovation
title_sort tourism innovation in the adriatic ionian region questioning the understanding of innovation
topic innovation
tourism
sustainability
Adriatic-Ionian region
url https://eurogeojournal.eu/index.php/egj/article/view/268
work_keys_str_mv AT danielaangelinajelincic tourisminnovationintheadriaticionianregionquestioningtheunderstandingofinnovation
AT sanjatisma tourisminnovationintheadriaticionianregionquestioningtheunderstandingofinnovation