Mechanisms to support open innovation in smart tourism destinations: Managerial perspective and implications [Mechanizmy wspierające otwarte innowacje w inteligentnych celach turystyki: Perspektywa zarządzająca i implikacje]

This paper examines the business systems in tourist regions that are predisposed to the formation of open innovation systems. The general assumption had been that analysis of the existing mechanisms to support open innovation in tourism and the identification of new trends had aim to do better the practice of managing tourist destinations. To investigate the research phenomenon, various sources of information including publications on innovations in tourism, websites of tourist centers, which are recognized as leaders in smart tourism, as well as sites of leading tourism companies were included. Using Cohen (2014) list, we considered the top 7 out of 15 top tourism destination cities in Europe via ‘mapping tourism strategy’ while two additional destinations in Europe were only used as case references. Furthermore, top eight travel companies of the Europe as case studies (sample size) for this study because these travel companies are mainly involved in the open innovation. This is a secondary study therefore content and construct validity in the selection of sources has been thoroughly examined. Findings reveal that authorities and businesses in smart tourist destinations, create incubators, accelerators, held hackathons. Previously, there was no conclusive evidence to explain by tourism management shall alter its traditional methods. This article formulates new arguments in favor of the fact that the management of tourist destinations should consider the fundamental changes in tourism due to digital transformation, the platform-based business models, and open innovations platforms. © 2020, Czestochowa University of Technology. All rights reserved.