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Sustainability Innovation in Tourism: A Systematic Literature Review

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Sustainable Approaches and Business Challenges in Times of Crisis (ICMTBHT 2022)

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Abstract

Sustainability innovation has been discussed as an approach to tourism. The concept of innovation is still regarded as abstract or with little application, and the same is true of the concept of sustainable tourism. This systematic literature review intends to investigate the state of sustainability innovation in tourism addressing the question: “What are the potential ways to implement sustainable innovation within the tourism sector?”

The article is a systematic literature review (SLR) on sustainable innovation in tourism, in the databases Scopus, Web of Science and Science Direct, which resulted in 492 papers. By applying the PRISMA model and VOSviewer software, the study sample is narrowed to 50 papers collected from 25 journals, published between 2000 and 2022. The articles that make up the SLR comprise qualitative, quantitative and mixed studies, with the research aiming to summarise theories, ideologies, methods and practices at different levels and stages applied in different tourism contexts. This study categorises the main topics: business model, sustainable innovative strategies, innovative leadership and stakeholders’ relationship.

The outcomes demonstrate diverse strategies for implementing sustainable innovation in the field of tourism, along with recommendations for future implementation across various tourism sub-sectors. These findings underline the importance of introducing sustainable innovations that foster sustainable development through collaborative efforts among all stakeholders. By creating added value to products and services, sustainable innovation enables companies within each tourism sector and the destination as a whole to differentiate themselves. The results also highlight that perceptions of sustainable innovation differ based on the level of knowledge, acceptance and understanding of individuals involved. Furthermore, the implementation of sustainable innovation can be customised to suit different objectives and applied at various levels within different tourism sub-sectors over an extended period of time.

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Acknowledgements

Daniela Meneses thanks Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT-Portugal) for funding under the project number UI/BD/153067/2022 to support this work.

Fernanda A. Ferreira acknowledges the financial support of UNIAG, R&D unit funded by the FCT – Portuguese Foundation for the Development of Science and Technology, I.P., under the project UIDB/04752/2020.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UNIAG, ESHT – Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Daniela Meneses

  2. DEGEIT – Department of Economics, Management Industrial Engineering and Tourism of the University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Carlos Costa & Celeste Eusébio

  3. UNIAG, CiTUR, ESHT – Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Fernanda A. Ferreira

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  1. Daniela Meneses
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  2. Carlos Costa
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  4. Celeste Eusébio
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Correspondence to Daniela Meneses .

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  1. Faculty of Business, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Adina Letiția Negrușa

  2. Faculty of Business, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Monica Maria Coroş

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Meneses, D., Costa, C., Ferreira, F.A., Eusébio, C. (2024). Sustainability Innovation in Tourism: A Systematic Literature Review. In: Negrușa, A.L., Coroş, M.M. (eds) Sustainable Approaches and Business Challenges in Times of Crisis. ICMTBHT 2022. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-48288-5_3

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