Applying a Knowledge Management Framework to Tourism Research

Increasingly it is being recognised that a nation's competitiveness in the global marketplace depends on its ability to capitalise on its intellectual and knowledge-based assets, as opposed to the more traditional commodities. As a consequence, the diffusion and commercialisation of research and intellectual property has emerged as a key issue for governments, higher education institutions, research centres and private enterprise. These are recent developments that represent the recognition of knowledge as a key competitive tool for the private sector and a determinant of economic growth for governments. Tourism, as one of the world's major economic sectors will ultimately be required to adapt to these changes. Therefore it is suggested that if tourism organizations are to remain competitive in this changing era, the adoption of a knowledge management approach will be required to transform tourism research and intellectual property into capabilities for the sector. This paper presents an overview of the relatively new concept of knowledge management and the issues in applying such an approach to a sector such as tourism. Finally the efforts of one tourism research organisation attempting to transform knowledge into capabilities for the tourism sector will be discussed.