Leadership and Innovation Processes—Development of Products and Services Based on Core Competencies

SUMMARY

The new challenge for destinations is to professionalize the continuous development process of innovative products and services. In this context, innovation is regarded as a bipolar process between market and resources. From the resource-oriented perspective, the concentration on regional core competencies will therefore become a source of innovation for destinations while the customer is the source of innovation from the market-oriented perspective. Resulting from the nature of the destination product, the innovation process is interpreted as an inter-organizational network process. The aim has to be the implementation of continuous innovation processes in the form of networks within a system of a learning destination. Given the fact that, especially for innovative activities, networks play a minor role in tourism at present, the question is raised of how to overcome the obstacles of cooperation and to initiate network activities to foster innovation networks within a destination. A study was conducted that focused on the identification of forms of cooperation that strengthen and reinforce innovative behavior in a destination. The article aims at discussing the enhancement of the attractiveness and the quality of innovative network activities by increasing the value of cooperation for the providers of the destination.

Key Words:

• Innovation process
• tourism product development
• leadership
• networks