Tacit knowledge spillover and sustainability in destination development

Abstract

This study examines tacit knowledge spillover among lodging firms within a destination and how it contributes to sustainable destination development. Longitudinal data for this study were collected primarily through in-depth interviews with lodging firms' managers and operators in a destination located in southern China. The findings suggest that tacit knowledge spillover in a region may lead to hospitality firm agglomeration. Furthermore, the eco-friendly hotel pioneers' tacit knowledge spillover may, over an extended time period, enhance the eco-friendly initiatives and operations of local hospitality firms, which may contribute to the successful development of sustainable destinations. The findings also indicate that local government's effective interventions tend to encourage and facilitate tacit knowledge spillover through establishing knowledge transfer mechanisms in the community, which is significant in the context of sustainable destination development.

目的地发展中的隐形知识溢出和可持续性

本研究探讨住宿公司的隐性知识溢出及如何促进其目的地的可持续发展。这项研究主要是通过深入访谈位于中国南部的目的地的住宿企业的管理者和经营者来收集纵向数据。调查结果表明，在一个区域隐性知识溢出效应可能导致。此外，生态友好型酒店先驱的隐性知识外溢有可能在较长的时间周期内促进本地企业环保方案和操作的实行，这将有助于可持续目的地的成功发展。研究结果还表明地方政府的有效干预通过在社区建立知识转移机制，有利于鼓励和促进隐性知识溢出, 这对于目的地的可持续发展具有重要意义。

Keywords:

• tacit knowledge spillover
• lodging firm agglomeration
• destination development
• sustainability

关键词:

• 隐性知识溢出酒店企业集聚
• 目的地发展
• 可持续性

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Corrigendum

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Minxian Zhou, Yanfen Zheng who helped the authors to collect data during the research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The work described in this paper was partially supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR, China [Project No: PolyU 5444/13H].

Notes on contributors

Chaozhi Zhang

Dr Chaozhi Zhang is a professor of tourism at the School of Tourism Management of Sun Yat-sen University, China, and the director of UIUC-SYSU International Joint Laboratory of National Park Research (Zhangjiajie). His research interests include tourism destination development and management, and heritage tourism.

Honggen Xiao

Dr Honggen Xiao is an associate professor at the School of Tourism and Hospitality of Hong Kong Polytechnic University.His research interests include sociocultural aspects of tourism, tourism impacts and development, destination marketing, and tourism in China.

Dogan Gursoy

Dogan Gursoy, PhD, is a distinguished professor in the School of Hospitality, Business Management at Washington State University, USA, and a senior research fellow in the School of Tourism and Hospitality at University of Johannesburg, South Africa. His research interests include tourism impacts, mega events, and consumer behavior.

Yong Rao

Dr Yong Rao is an associate professor at the School of Tourism Management of Sun Yat-sen University, China. His research interests are knowledge and innovation and hospitality management.