Author Bios (50 Words for each Author)

Birgit Pikkemaat is Associate Professor at the Department of Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism at the University of Innsbruck. Her research focuses on innovation management and strategic product development in tourism and hospitality.

Sarah Eichelberger MA is doctoral candidate at the University of Innsbruck, Faculty of Business and Management. Her thesis deals with new forms and the paradigms of responsible tourism development.

Mike Peters is Full Professor and Head of the Interdisciplinary Research Center Tourism & Leisure at the University of Innsbruck (Austria). His research covers small business management and family business development in tourism and hospitality industry.

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.

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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.