Value co-creation in tourism living labs

Abstract

The tourism industry is an ecosystem of suppliers, visitors, residents, destination marketing organizations, and entrepreneurs co-creating valuable experiences. Engagement of relevant actors and their collaboration are critical for innovation in the tourism (service) ecosystem. Living labs facilitate such collaboration in physical and virtual environments through parity-based partnerships among networks of actors. Taking an ecosystem perspective, this study advances the understanding of 1) how living labs can contribute to value co-creation in tourism destinations and 2) the requirements for effective co-creation. The findings from a three-phase mixed-method study with managers and participants of six tourism living labs underscore the relevance of actors, their motivations to engage, and structure for facilitating value co-creation within living labs. Effective co-creation processes lead to network growth and innovation, with resource availability being both a requirement and a perceived benefit of this co-creation.