The role of open innovation in the world of hospitality industry

Purpose/ Research Question: Many scholars highlight the importance of innovation in the ho tel Industry with reference to customers, entrepreneurs and human resources (Campo, Díaz, & Yagüe, 2014). Particularly, this paper aims to explore important aspects of innovations and h ow Italian Hotel industry applies the variables of innovation. Key Literature Reviews (About 3~5 papers): Many scholars (Schmidt, Cantallops, & Dos Sant os, 2008) identify innovation as the effective implantation of information technologies, exploring the link between ICT and the potential benefits for hotels (Hwang et al., 2018; Bea et al., 2 017). They find that hotels do not efficiently use ICT since, in the era of social networks, companies exploit the technological tools to be in touch with the network (many-to-many marketing), rather than the single guest (one-to-one marketing). Other scholars (Sparks, So, & Bradley, 2016; Hua, Morosan, & DeFranco, 2015; Koseoglu, Rahi mi, Okumus, & Liu, 2016; Della Corte, 2018) study the role of ICT not only to catch new cust omers but also for customer retention strategies, since ICT tools can support the managers d uring and after customer experience. For examples, managers have the opportunity to respon d to both positive and negative reviews, giving the right voice to the company vision. "Innovation, then, is not necessarily the creation of a new technology and can arise more fre quently in the expression of entrepreneurial behavior that manifests itself in unexpected ways and unexpected but welcome from the market” (Valdani, 1996). Innovation, and creativity, in t his optic, are bound to and require knowledge: this aspect is often misunderstood or skipped in the literature. However, knowledge is important since it helps the euristic process of explo ration beside exploitation in innovation and dynamic capabilities can help this process. This vision requires the adoption of open innovation in the hotel industry, that explains the t ransition from closed systems to open systems (that are the systems that interact dynamically between them and with the external environment) and that has changed firms‟ strategic pat hs, more and more based on relationships with other companies in the context of creative m anagement, through the development of common ideas, strategies and policies in processes and services‟ implementation. Moreover, creative ideas and creativity in general are the basis for innovation and can be considered its initial source. The innovation process consists of four phases: research, development, production, marketing where also the creativity is transversal to these phases. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: The analysis is focused on multiple case studies analysis. H ence, the paper explores three case studies, examining the different strategies of innovation management. (Expected) Findings/Results: This study gives a relevant contribution both to the theory on t he new perspectives on open innovation in hotel industry and to the managerial practice. Firs tly, it comes out that open innovation is important in this sector and it cab be the result of interactions with different actors of the industry, customer, local community, etc. This exists n ot only in operational activities but mainly in the most creative process of product constructi on. Research limitations/ Implications: Finally, this paper offers both theoretical and managerial i nsights that are useful for the strategic planning of hotel industry, underlying the importance of innovation in the creation of highly experiential and customized product.