Lugano (Switzerland), 18 and 19 September 2003
Aula Magna, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI)
The OECD Tourism Committee and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland are organising a Conference on Innovation and Growth in Tourism, on 18 - 19 September 2003, in Lugano (Switzerland).
Innovation can be a powerful machine for growth in tourism. As tourism is a highly fragmented sector dominated by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) the innovation process in tourism shows specific characteristics and dynamics. These characteristics will be analysed by the experts.
The innovation-pattern and the innovation-capacity depend in tourism on the size of enterprises. In large enterprises continuous innovation has become a routine practice while SMEs do not have the research and development divisions enabling them to promote innovation steadily. They depend more on imitations and on straight forward varying of already developed new products and processes on the market (versioning). By co-operation they can increase their capacity to innovate.
The objectives of the Conference are to share best practices and policy initiatives, to examine the role of governments in tourism co-operation and innovation processes and to identify competitive advantages through innovation.
The key issues of the Conference are as follows:
- The innovation process in tourism, a fragmented sector dominated by small businesses: how does it function?
- Product improvement or innovation: what is the key to success in tourism?
- What are the barriers to innovation for tourism SMEs and how can they be overcome?
- Can information technologies (IT) still create competitive advantages and what are the conditions to successfully thrive on IT?
- Innovation and public-private partnerships: Can governments enhance innovation and co-operation in the field of tourism?
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