Page 11 - World Heritage and Tourism Innovation

Mohammadhossein Dehghan Pour Farashah et al. Exploring the sustainability in a Rural Area

Innovation in Tourism Businesses tion. Vuong and Tran (2021) explored the contribu-
Generally, innovation means ‘(the use of) a new idea tion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in bringing new
or method’ (Cambridge Dictionary, n.d.). Howev- and other values to the tourism industry during the
er, innovation is a multi-dimensional concept, and COVID-19 pandemic. They expressed that AI could
various ways exist to define it (Korres, 2007). In the drive new and safe customer experiences during the
business context, Rogers (1998) described innovation pandemic and beyond by pushing companies to re-
as a series of significant changes in routine business design their products and services. Significantly, only
activities that will result in improved performance for two significant studies have been devoted to stud-
the firm. Schumpeter (1939) determined five different ying tourism innovations amid the COVID-19 era
types of innovation: the formation of new products from the sustainability viewpoint. Buluk Eşitti (2022)
or services, new processes, raw materials, new mar- learned how innovation could help the sustainabili-
kets, and new organisations. In the tourism industry, ty of post-COVID tourism. She believes that swinging
different innovative solutions can be applied, such to more sustainable forms based on broadened clean
as preparing new hotel services or adding new at- energy use, a fair and egalitarian approach, and the
tractions at a destination; looking for new customer application of e-transformation and digitalisation will
segments or improving tour guiding to enhance the gain more traction regarding the sustainability of the
efficiency and quality of the tourist experience; vary- tourism industry. Li et al. (2021) introduced techno-
ing to new niche tour operators; reorienting existing logical innovation as a solution to a sustainable recov-
destination brands to appeal to new markets; and fa- ery of the tourism sector in response to the crisis of
cilitating business in a new way (Carlisle et al., 2013). COVID-19. They argued that adopting technological
Genç and Genç (2017) argue that implementing in- advances, tools, and social media can produce benefi-
novation impacts tourism by increasing the existing cial results. The studies above further emphasised the
capacity of the tourism market, taking part in the sur- role of new technologies, such as digital tools. How-
vival of tourism, overcoming the possible adverse ef- ever, this research introduces an empirical example of
fects, and opening up saturated markets. Additionally, an eco-lodge as a sustainable pattern of tourism and
tourism innovation contributes to the local economy, its simple and applicable innovations in response to
promotes local enterprise development, and provides the COVID-19 pandemic in a developing destination.
employment opportunities (Carlisle et al., 2013). It is crucial because access to digital technologies is
Much research addressing innovation’s implica- challenging for many less developed destinations due
tions in the tourism industry is in pre-pandemic stud- to poor infrastructures, high costs, etc.
ies (e.g. Carvalho & Costa, 2011; Tolstad, 2014; Stano-
vcic et al., 2015; Genç & Genç, 2017; Attia et al., 2019). Case Study
Little research has highlighted the role of innovation The studied eco-lodge is located 34 km from the His-
in tourism after the COVID-19 pandemic. Hernández toric City of Yazd (see Figure 2). The Historic City of
et al. (2021) analysed the strategies and actions imple- Yazd is the first city in Iran to be inscribed on UNES-
mented by tourism small and medium-sized enter- CO’s World Heritage list in 2017.
prises (SMEs), including souvenir shops, accommo- The eco-lodge is originally an old adobe mansion
dation, restaurants, art galleries, etc., on the coastline with a unique architectural layout that dates back
of the Metropolitan Area of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, about 100 years. The eco-lodge has an area of 2000
after the COVID-19 pandemic. According to them, the m and currently has nine rooms. Six people were
2
studied tourism SMEs followed four types of innova- employed with the launch of this eco-lodge in 2016
tion in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, including (Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tour-
digitalisation of processes, contact with customers in ism, 2016).
the virtual environment, product and service design In Figure 2, an aerial photo of the ecolodge was
in digital environments, and business model adapta- illustrated.

Proceedings of the 7th UNESCO UNITWIN Conference | 7