Title of Paper
Abstract (150 Words)
The tourism industry is very vulnerable and is strongly affected by the pandemic. Thus, it requires innovative solutions to cope with and recover from the crisis. The study aims at gaining empirical insights into innovation behavior as means to crisis response of ski destinations. For this purpose, we conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders of ski destinations during the re-start of tourism after the first lockdown in Austria. We further explore how ski destinations develop and implement various types of innovations as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and reveal that the COVID-19 crisis improves coopetition among stakeholders. The research suggests that the COVID-19 crisis has reinforced innovation activities and the interviews demonstrate that the role of DMOs has become even more important for destination recovery.
Empirical insights into innovation practices as crises response of ski destinations after the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic
The tourism industry is very vulnerable and is strongly affected by the pandemic. Thus, it requires innovative solutions to cope with and recover from the crisis. The study aims at gaining empirical insights into innovation behavior as means to crisis response of ski destinations. For this purpose, we conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders of ski destinations during the re-start of tourism after the first lockdown in Austria. We further explore how ski destinations develop and implement various types of innovations as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and reveal that the COVID-19 crisis improves coopetition among stakeholders. The research suggests that the COVID-19 crisis has reinforced innovation activities and the interviews demonstrate that the role of DMOs has become even more important for destination recovery.