Results from the project
Study of the design and execution of an open innovation contest on visualization designs in the tourism industry
Mapping of open innovation practices in the tourism industry
Understanding the challenges and opportunities of Skånes tourism ecosystem
Zeynep Yetis, PhD, Stockholm School of Economics, Department of Business Administration
What is the research project about?
“We will be investigating whether and if so how the innovation model called ‘open innovation’ can be used in order to develop the Swedish tourism industry. We have chosen Tourism in Skåne as a pilot project.”
What is open innovation?
“What we mean by open innovation is that a company, organisation or other actor that wants to develop something new or find the solution to a problem places parts of the innovation process outside of its own operations. They involve the rest of the world in their innovation efforts. This can help companies create entirely new products and services.”
What will you be doing?
“The first stage will involve us using interviews and a workshop to work out the challenges and potential problems for the tourism industry in Skåne. We will then be sending out invitations to an open international innovation competition that anyone who wants to – students, designers, hobby programmers or others – can take part in and compete over who can produce the best digital solutions to meet these challenges. The competition entries are developed and submitted on a digital platform that we provide. The winning entries will be used by the tourism industry in Skåne and we will also be studying how the process works.”
Are there international examples that show how open innovation is being used in the tourism industry?
“In Vietnam, they have used an open innovation process to find solutions for the polluted Mekong River, which is a major source of revenue for both the fishing and tourism industries. It is also of major importance to the population for recreational purposes. I Tel Aviv, there are examples of how an open innovation process has been used to produce new solutions for transporting tourists.”
How can companies in the tourism and hospitality industry benefit from this research?
“We will be producing a manual containing tangible advice and tools that show companies how open innovation – open tourism – can be used to develop their business. Our goal is that this will also be beneficial to small businesses. We also hope that we receive good ideas and solutions that we can spread in the industry.”
What are the main challenges in your project?
“One is reaching out with information about the competition and that we get in good and usable ideas. We also have to find ways to package both the manual and the ideas so that they are usable.”
About the researchers
Zeynep Yetis, PhD, conducts research in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship at the Stockholm School of Economics, Department of Business Administration. Robin Teigland, PhD, Department of Marketing and Strategy, is also involved. Kairos Future is a partner. The researchers will be writing three academic papers.
Project facts
Project
Open tourism: Development of an ecosystem for open innovation concerning digital applications and visualisations in Skåne
Research organization
Stockholm School of Economics
Project Manager
Zeynep Yetis
Members
Robin Teigland
Period
2017 Jan – 2018 Dec
Amount
SEK 1,200,000