Innovation through Cooperation in Destinations: First Results of an Empirical Study in Austria

ABSTRACT In the innovation literature different types of collaboration and cooperation have been advanced as being favourable for the innovation performance of enterprises. Nevertheless empirical studies on entrepreneurship in small and medium sized enterprises in alpine tourism show that the majority of small and medium sized tourism enterprises seem to shy away from any kind of cooperation even though the market forces them to improve their tourism products and services in the face of globalization and the maintenance of competitive advantage. This paper analyzes data on Austria's small and medium sized tourism enterprises collected in a pilot project concerned with the measurement of innovation in destinations through personal interviews. Statistical analyses reveal a positive relationship between enterprises engaged in collaboration and the level of innovation. These findings strongly support the importance of cooperation and networking for small and medium sized firms to increase the level of innovation.

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