Tourism Innovation-oriented Public-Private Partnerships for the Development of Smart Services in a Destination

In the last decade, tourism management research has devoted increasing attention to understanding the nature of tourism innovation and the role of inter-organizational collaboration as a conduit of innovation for tourism businesses and destinations. The relevance of these issues has been significantly fuelled by the recent interest in the smart city paradigm and the effort made by tourism researchers to exploit the potential of smartness principles for sustaining destination competitiveness. In this direction, existing studies point to the importance of collaborative partnerships between public and private actors that are deliberately oriented at the development of tourism innovations in the form of new or improved smart tourism services. Drawing on research on tourism partnerships and innovation in services, this paper aims at advancing existing knowledge on inter-organizational collaboration for tourism innovation, shedding light on the complex nature of tourism innovation processes and outcomes. Specifically, the study focuses on tourism Innovation-oriented Public-Private Partnerships (IPPPs) and explores their nature and functioning in the relevant context of smart tourism services and smart destinations. The empirical findings of an Italian case study in the smart destination of Siracusa provide valuable insights related to the structure, process and outcomes of tourism IPPPs along with the drivers of their formation and successful innovation development. As the increasing importance attached to smart tourism destination strategies and goals has recently showed, a better understanding of the nature and functioning of this type of partnerships is crucial for successfully implementing a destination development strategy that is based on collaborative innovation among public and private actors.