Challenges of Open Innovation in the Tourism Sector

This study shows how the tourism sector is applying the new paradigm of open innovation (OI) supported by social media. We drew on a sample of 135 companies from the sector in the south of Portugal and Spain to perform a cluster analysis. Currently, OI is a challenge in tourism, and social media are a strategic tool. The main objective is to evaluate the impact of customer involvement in innovation performance. The results show positive impact of OI in new product development, moreover results derived in terms of turnover and competitiveness improve; however, it all depends on the innovation management model. Anyway, even today, formal adoption is still pending to achieve the desired outcomes but this research highlights how the sector is advancing in the direction of OI.