The influence of territory on innovation network design in mountain tourism resorts

ABSTRACT

As there is little research on the link between territories and interorganisational networks, this paper examines how the nature of a territory influences the characteristics of innovation networks. It compares the innovation network forms of two types of territories (high-altitude and medium-altitude mountain resorts) regarding four characteristics of networks widely debated in the literature: the nature of the relationships between members, the mode of regulation used, the architecture, and the geographical proximity of members. This research makes a significant contribution to both the spatial development and innovation management literature: indeed, our results show that according to the nature of the territory, innovation networks differ in terms of partners, geographical proximity, and regulation mode. However, the nature of the territory does not seem to influence the architecture of the innovation network since those networks need a hub organization that orchestrates the partners’ actions. These results, by providing a better understanding of the characteristics of innovation networks, help tourist territories to better attract customers.

KEYWORDS:

• Innovation networks
• mountain resorts
• tourism
• territory

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 In 2016, according to the WTO Global Barometer (World Tourism Organization, 2017), Europe welcomed nearly 618 million international tourists, of 1.237 billion travellers worldwide. Europe remains the leading tourist destination in the world, ahead of the Asia-Pacific zone and the Americas; the tourism industry employs 12 million people in the European Union (World Tourism Organization, 2018).