The Innovation Pillar in the Spanish Smart Tourism Destination (DTI) Model

Innovation represents a strategic tool for tourism destinations to cope with challenges that currently threat the tourism sector. This chapter, after introducing the concept and context of innovation in tourism, addresses how this strategic tool, when is made available to tourism managers, acts as a transversal lever to promote actions and differential strategies that support destinations on their adoption of a smart tourism management (DTI) model. Specifically, innovation is another DTI model pillar, with a weight of 9.3% of the total model, exercised across three key areas of work that destinations are encouraged to address from the open innovation paradigm: (1) Innovative management/governance; (2) Innovation activities; and (3) Innovation ecosystem. These three areas of action are developed in 9 requirements and 14 indicators, presented in detail in the chapter. Lastly, the chapter provides examples of the typical recommendations that are usually made to destinations in this area of management of the DTI model, together with some final reflections illustrating the main challenges faced by Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) when implementing the actions required by the model DTI in this pillar of innovation.