School of Management, University of South Australia
Abstract
Innovation in tourism has becoming increasingly important to create destination competitiveness. There is however poor understanding of the national government’s initiatives and role in tourism innovation. This study has reviewed tourism development policies in Norway using content analysis. The result indicates that the government recognises the importance of innovation in tourism and innovation is also encouraged. Nevertheless, through the three significant themes including network and collaboration, innovation in SMEs, and funding and support it has been revealed that government initiatives in developing an innovative tourism industry are not entirely new. In addition, the government may also be playing a too passive role as many of the innovation initiatives are emphasised as the responsibility of the private sector. Further studies which consider policies as well as perspectives of both Government officials and industry representatives or operators are needed in order to further understand government’s role in tourism innovation
