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OECD - Conference
on Growth and Innovation in Tourism
Lugano (Switzerland) 18 and 19 September 2003

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THURSDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2003
9:00-10:00 - Opening Welcome Address
Prof. Dr. Marco Baggolini, President of the Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano

Statements by the OECD and Switzerland
Mr. Takayuki Matsuo, Director for Science, Technology and Industry, OECD
Dr. Eric Scheidegger, Ambassador, Secretariat of State for Economic Affairs, Switzerland
10:00-11:00 - Keynote Address Innovation and Economic Growth
Prof. Nathan Rosenberg, Stanford University, California, United States of America

Innovation and Public Intervention: Do we need an innovation policy?
Prof. Rico Maggi, University of Italian Switzerland, Switzerland
11:30-13:00 - Session 1 The Characteristics and Dynamics of the Innovation Process in Tourism

1. Product improvement or innovation: what is the key to success in tourism?
Prof. Klaus Weiermair, Director of the Institute for Tourism and Service Economy, University of Innsbruck, Austria

2. The innovation process in tourism, a fragmented sector dominated by small businesses: how does it function?
Prof. François-Xavier Decelle, Rapporteur on the project "Tourism and Innovation" in the Conseil National du Tourisme, Professor in the Institut de Recherche et d'Etudes Supérieures du Tourisme (IREST), France
Lunch break at the Aula Magna, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI)
14:30-16:00 - Session 2 Basic Innovations and Applications in Tourism

1. Has innovation become a routine practice that enables companies to stay ahead of the competition in the travel industry?
Prof. Martin Brackenbury, President of World Tourism Business Council, President of the International Federation of Tour Operators, United Kingdom

2. Electronic destination marketing management: how to build an innovation cluster in the field of applied information technology.
Mr. Jürg Schmid, General Manager of Switzerland's National Tourism Office "Switzerland Tourism", Switzerland
16:30-17:30 - Session 3 A Key for an Innovative and Efficient Tourism Policy: Tourism Satellite Accounts

1. The experience of the State of Hawaii
Dr. Pearl Imada-Iboshi, Policy Manager for the Governor of Hawaii, United States of America

2. The new Swiss Tourism Satellite Account
Dr. Karl Koch, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, Switzerland
Evening event: Visit of Morcote, concert, dinner on board ship

FRIDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2003
9:00-10:30 - Session 4 Governmental Initiatives and Programmes in the Field of Tourism

1. Innovation and public-private partnership: why does the Canadian government support co-operation in the field of tourism?
Mr. Pierre Gauthier, Executive Director for Partnerships, Canadian Tourism Commission, Canada

2. The French initiative for innovation in tourism: how to rejuvenate the offer and increase the productivity of tourism?
Mr. André-Jean Guérin, Director of the Agence française de l'ingénierie du tourisme (AFIT), France

3. Innovation in the field of product and marketing: the method used by the Australian government.
Mr. Bob Pegler, Minister-Counsellor, Industry, Tourism and Resources, Australian Delegation to the OECD, Australia
10:45-12:15 - Session 5 The Need for an Innovation Oriented Tourism Policy
Chair: Prof. Peter Keller, President of the Tourism Committee of OECD

The views of governments
Mr. John C. Grech, Chairman, Malta Tourism Authority, Malta
Mr. Sanjiv Singh, Strategic Research Manager, South African Tourism, South Africa
Mr. R. Franco Vitale, Director General of the Department of tourism, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts, Italy
Dr. Helmut Krueger, Head of Tourism Policy Division, Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, Germany
12:15-12:30 - Conclusions by the Chair Implications for Future Work on Tourism Policy at the OECD
Prof. Peter Keller, Chairman of the Tourism Committee
Lunch on the mountain of San Salvatore

Conference Programme
Thursday 18 September 2003 9:00-13:00
Welcome Address

    Prof. Dr. Marco Baggolini, President of the Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano

Opening statements by the OECD and Switzerland

    Mr. Takayuki Matsuo, Director for Science, Technology and Industry, OECD
    Dr. Eric Scheidegger, Ambassador, Secretariat of State for Economic Affairs, Switzerland

Keynote addresses

    Innovation and economic growth
    Prof. Nathan Rosenberg, Stanford University, California, United States of America

    Innovation and public intervention: Do we need an innovation policy?
    Prof. Rico Maggi, University of Italian Switzerland, Switzerland

Session 1: The characteristics and dynamics of the innovation process in tourism

  1. Tourism services are highly fragmented and largely dominated by small and medium sized enterprises. To survive in an increasingly competitive and global environment, enterprises have to achieve economies of scale and of scope in order to reduce costs, increase productivity and gain more power in disputed markets. Innovation and co-operation mechanisms can help enterprises adapt to change and increase their competitiveness.
  2. While the international travel industry - e.g. big tour operators, airline companies and hotel chains - is able to produce, on an industrial scale, packages which have an attractive price product ratio, the small and medium sized companies have to adapt and overcome the disadvantages due to their lack of size and the fragmentation of the service chain at the place of destination.
  3. The innovation and co-operation mechanisms in tourism can take many forms, ranging from horizontal and vertical integration, to new structures that encourage the processes of product, marketing and organisational innovation.
  4. The session 1 will be structured around two different interventions:
    1. Product improvement or innovation: what is the key to success in tourism? Prof. Klaus Weiermair, Director of the Institute for Tourism and Service Economy, University of Innsbruck, Austria.
    2. The innovation process in tourism, a fragmented sector dominated by small businesses: how does it function?
      François-Xavier Decelle, Rapporteur on the project " Tourism and Innovation " in the Conseil National du Tourisme , Professor in the Institut de Recherche et d'Etudes Supérieures du Tourisme (IREST), France.
Thursday 18 September 2003 14:30-17:30
Session 2: Basic innovations and applications in tourism

  1. Major basic innovations, particularly in the sector of transport and new information technologies, have helped to make the tourism sector more productive. Innovation in tourism is primarily focused on production processes.
  2. The intensity and the spread of innovation vary depending on the characteristics of the different branches of tourism. Large enterprises in the tourism and transport industry, such as tour operators, airline companies and hotel chains, have developed products on an industrial scale. Continuous innovation has become routine practice for them. It has become a factor of production that enables them to gain a competitive edge. They innovate to win market shares.
  3. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) cannot be as innovative. They do not have research and development divisions enabling them to promote innovation. Yet, SMEs can overcome this obstacle by imitating and applying the innovations on the market. They can also expand their size by co-operating with other enterprises, thereby increasing their capacity to innovate.
  4. Session 2 will be structured around two different interventions:
    1. Has innovation become a routine practice that enables companies to stay ahead of the competition in the travel industry?
      Prof. Martin Brackenbury, President of World Tourism Organisation Business Council, President of the International Federation of Tour Operators, United Kingdom.
    2. Electronic destination marketing management: how to build an innovation cluster in the field of applied information technology.
      Mr. Jürg Schmid, General Manager of Switzerland's National Tourism Office "Switzerland Tourism", Switzerland.
Session 3: A key for an innovative and efficient tourism policy: Tourism Satellite Accounts
  1. The Tourism Satellite Account provides a new vision of the tourism industry components and dynamics and enables policy and business decision-makers to obtain key information for improving their planning, investment, marketing, human resources, development and innovation strategies. Not only the Tourism Satellite Account outlines the economic significance of tourism in the national economy but it provides also detailed information on the relative importance of the various components of the tourism industry, on their dynamics and contribution in economic terms. Moreover, emerging extensions of the account are focusing on human resources, regional indicators and micro-economic performance indicators, which are key elements to consider for the development of the industry.
  2. The Tourism Satellite is changing the way governments and industry leaders are looking at tourism. It provides new insights as to the economic activities associated to tourism and revealed linkages which in turn stimulate the development of new forms of co-operation and alliances. By gaining a better understanding of the structure of production, tourism consumption and redistribution within the value chain, it improves the capacity of governments to exploit the assets and comparative advantages of each component of the industry. The Tourism Satellite Account is helping governments and industry in becoming fully aware of the current and future economic performance of tourism and in converting this information in innovation and cooperation strategies to support further tourism growth.
  3. The session 3 will be structured around two different interventions:
    1. The experience of the State of Hawaii
      Mrs Pearl Imada-Iboshi, Policy Manager for the Governor of Hawaii, United States of America
    2. The new Swiss tourism satellite account. Dr. Karl Koch, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, Switzerland
Friday, 19 September 2003 9:00-13:00
Session 4: Governmental initiatives and programmes in the field of tourism
  1. Although tourism is private sector driven, governments shape the operating environment, provide much of the infrastructure, encourage innovation, research and development and are responsible for the provision of public goods such as the natural and cultural resources required by consumers and the industry. The treatment of issues like economic globalisation, regionalisation or sustainable development require extensive adaptation/innovation of public institutions and create new tasks for governments to enable effective design and implementation of tourism policies and actions within a broader policy context.
  2. Many OECD countries, which are traditional tourist destinations, need to rejuvenate their tourism supply in order to comply with the new requirements of tourists on the global market. To help tourism enterprises and destinations, governments are developing new strategies to strengthen their capacity in innovation and cooperation. Actions undertaken by governments are aiming primarily to enhance the growth potential and the competitiveness of destinations and enterprises, particularly those which are disadvantaged by their lack of size.
  3. In OECD services economies, tourism could be seen as being part of the new economy as it is highly dependent on information and new technologies. Some even place tourism in the emerging "experience economy" which caters to personal well-being in the emotional and intellectual senses as well as physically.
Lead speaker: Why is tourism part of a new experience economy?
  1. The session 4 will be structured around three different interventions, looking at governmental experiences with tourism incentive systems:
    1. Innovation and public-private partnerships: why does the Canadian government support the co-operation in the field of tourism?
      Mr. Pierre Gauthier, Executive Director for Partnerships, Canadian Tourism Commission, Canada.
    2. The French initiative for innovation in tourism: how to rejuvenate the offer and increase the productivity of tourism?
      Mr. André-Jean Guérin, Director of the Agence française de l'ingénierie du tourisme (AFIT), France.
    3. Innovation in the field of product and marketing: how does the Australian government?
      Name of speaker to be provided.
Session 5: The need for an innovation oriented tourism policy
  1. Tourism faces important cross-sectoral challenges. The development of a policy framework conducive of growth and competitiveness includes the setting of appropriate mechanisms for cooperation in order to reduce conflicting objectives due to the "cross-sectional" aspects of tourism policy and increase the effectiveness of public authorities in charge of tourism development. Tourism also faces important industrial/sectoral challenges. The provision by governments of support and incentives should focus on areas where there are market failures. Specific action to support entrepreneurial activities, particularly for small businesses, should not create distortions among enterprises. Innovation mechanisms can contribute to enhance competitiveness of the industry.
  2. New forms of promotion of innovation and cooperation mechanisms in tourism should be based on a clear policy strategy and guided by appropriate guidelines to ensure that such mechanisms are conducive of a competitive, market-oriented and environment-friendly market place.
  3. The session 5 will be organised in the form of a round table, addressing in an interactive debate the positions of OECD governments.
The views of governments
    Dr. Helmut Krueger, Head of Tourism Policy Division, Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, Germany.
    Mr. R. Franco Vitale, Director General of the Department of tourism, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts, Italy.
    Name of other speakers to be provided.

Conclusions by the Chair
  1. The Chair will present a synthesis of the discussions and invite participants to comment. Particular attention will be paid to the implications of the discussions for future work on tourism policy in the OECD.
    Implications for future work on Tourism Policy at the OECD
    Prof. Peter Keller, Chairman of the Tourism Committee
Final keynote speech: meta-economic aspects of innovation in tourism
  1. Creativity and innovation: how can architecture become an attraction for visitors?

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