Barriers to Innovation in Tourism: A Case from Hotel Industry in Canton Alausí

Abstract

In recent decades, tourism has emerged as an integral element for strengthening the lesser developed and precarious sectors all over the world including in Ecuador. In an attempt to fit tourism into these new sectors, some complementary activities have been proposed and supported not only by the public but also by private organizations. Moreover, regional and national plans for developing travel policies have been proposed, encouraging providers to include new and better practices according to the national and international standards. The reality, however, differs from the proposed plans. The present study is a quantitative, cross-sectional research that aims at identifying the barriers that prevent local hotel administrators from innovating and meeting their own strategic goals. Thus, a literature review on the topic was carried out as a starting point, followed by a survey questionnaire directed to hotel administrators who provided useful primary data. Finally, data were analyzed taking into account statistical analysis in order to draw conclusions which are presented in this article as the reality that faces the accommodation providers in the town of Alausí in Ecuador.

Keywords

• innovation barriers, tourism innovation, innovation in hospitality.