Tourism and hospitality (T&H) firms in Europe face mounting pressure to innovate amid rapid digitalization, globalization, and competition. This study examines the relative innovativeness of T&H firms compared to other sectors, using harmonized data from the 2019 European Company Survey (ECS) covering all EU countries. Innovation is assessed across three dimensions (product, process, and marketing) and by degree of novelty, distinguishing radical (new-to-market) from new-to-firm innovations, while also capturing underlying innovation readiness. Results show that, compared to other sectors, T&H firms are less likely to introduce market-new innovations, but display a strong propensity for incremental and adaptive innovation. Innovation outcomes are primarily shaped by enabling capabilities rather than structural firm characteristics, with ICT adoption, female leadership, strategies focused on quality and location emerging as key drivers. Findings also reveal intra-sectoral heterogeneity, highlighting the need for differentiated policies tailored to T&H subsectors. This study provides the first cross-sectoral, cross-national assessment of innovation in European T&H SMEs, helping close an empirical gap and foster innovation and competitiveness in the tourism economy.
BreierMKallmuenzerAClaussT, et al. (2021) The role of business model innovation in the hospitality industry during the COVID-19 crisis. International Journal of Hospitality Management92: 102723. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102723
3.
BurtonAMDickingerA (2025) Innovation in crisis. The role of leadership and dynamic capabilities for a more innovative hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management124: 103946. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2024.103946
4.
CamisónCMonfort-MirVM (2012) Measuring innovation in tourism from the schumpeterian and the dynamic-capabilities perspectives. Tourism Management33(4): 776–789. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2011.08.012
5.
CamisonCForésBBoronat-NavarroM (2017) Cluster and firm-specific antecedents of organizational innovation. Current Issues in Tourism20(6): 617–646. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2016.1177002
DezsöCLRossDG (2012) Does female representation in top management improve firm performance? A panel data investigation. Strategic Management Journal33(9): 1072–1089. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.1955
DomiSKecoRCapellerasJL, et al. (2019) Effects of innovativeness and innovation behavior on tourism SMEs performance: the case of Albania. Economics & sociology12(3): 67–85. https://doi.org/10.14254/2071-789x.2019/12-3/5
11.
EdquistC (1997) Systems of Innovation Approaches: Their Emergence and Characteristics. Systems of Innovation: Technologies, institutions and organizations. London: Pinter Publishers/ Cassel Academic, 1–35.
12.
FagerbergJ (2004) Innovation: A guide to the literature. The Oxford Handbook of Innovation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1–26.
García-VillaverdePMElcheDMartínez-PérezÁ, et al. (2017) Determinants of radical innovation in clustered firms of the hospitality and tourism industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management61: 45–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2016.11.002
15.
GardiniMA (2014) The challenge of branding and brand management: perspectives from the hospitality industry In: Tourism and Leisure: Current Issues and Perspectives of Development. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, pp. 247–268.
16.
GelmanAHillJ (2006) Data Analysis Using Regression and multilevel/hierarchical Models. New York: Cambridge University Press.
17.
HallCMBairdT (2014) Types of innovation in tourism businesses: the case of New Zealand wine tourism In: Handbook of Research on Innovation in Tourism Industries. Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 249–274.
HeinzeGSchemperM (2002) A solution to the problem of separation in logistic regression. Statistics in Medicine21(16): 2409–2419. https://doi.org/10.1002/sim.1047
HoarauH (2014) Knowledge acquisition and assimilation in tourism-innovation processes. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism14(2): 135–151. https://doi.org/10.1080/15022250.2014.887609
23.
HoogendoornSOosterbeekHVan PraagM (2013) The impact of gender diversity on the performance of business teams: evidence from a field experiment. Management Science59(7): 1514–1528. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1120.1674
JacobMTintoréJAguilóE, et al. (2003) Innovation in the tourism sector: results from a pilot study in the Balearic Islands. Tourism Economics9(3): 279–295. https://doi.org/10.5367/000000003101298394
26.
JohannessenJAOlsenBLumpkinGT (2001) Innovation as newness: what is new, how new, and new to whom?European Journal of Innovation Management4(1): 20–31. https://doi.org/10.1108/14601060110365547
27.
KitsiosFCGrigoroudisE (2020) Evaluating service innovation and business performance in tourism: a multicriteria decision analysis approach. Management Decision58(11): 2429–2453. https://doi.org/10.1108/md-09-2019-1326
28.
KrizajDBrodnikABukovecB (2014) A tool for measurement of innovation newness and adoption in tourism firms: a tool for measurement of innovation newness and adoption. International Journal of Tourism Research16(2): 113–125. https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.1905
29.
LundvallBA (1992) User-producer relationships, national systems of innovation and internationalisation. National Systems of Innovation: Towards a Theory of Innovation and Interactive Learning. London: Pinter Publishers, 45–67.
30.
Martin-RiosCCiobanuT (2019) Hospitality innovation strategies: an analysis of success factors and challenges. Tourism Management70: 218–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2018.08.018
31.
Martínez-RománJATamayoJAGameroJ, et al. (2015) Innovativeness and business performances in tourism SMEs. Annals of Tourism Research54: 118–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2015.07.004
32.
MattssonJOrfila‐SintesF (2014) Hotel innovation and its effect on business performance. International Journal of Tourism Research16(4): 388–398. https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.1933
33.
Medina-MuñozDRMedina-MuñozRDZúñiga-CollazosA (2013) Tourism and innovation in China and Spain: a review of innovation research on tourism. Tourism Economics19(2): 319–337. https://doi.org/10.5367/te.2013.0198
34.
MeiXYArcodiaCRuhanenL (2013) The national government as the facilitator of tourism innovation: evidence from Norway. Current Issues in Tourism18(12): 1172–1191. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2013.822477
35.
Montañés-Del-RíoMÁMedina-GarridoJA (2020) Determinants of the propensity for innovation among entrepreneurs in the tourism industry. Sustainability12(12): 5003. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12125003
36.
NicolauJLSanta-MaríaMJ (2013) The effect of innovation on hotel market value. International Journal of Hospitality Management32: 71–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2012.04.005
OECD/Eurostat (2005) Oslo Manual: Guidelines for Collecting and Interpreting Innovation Data. 3rd edition. Paris: OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264013100-enThe Measurement of Scientific and Technological Activities.
Orfila-SintesFCrespí-CladeraRMartínez-RosE (2005) Innovation activity in the hotel industry: evidence from Balearic Islands. Tourism Management26(6): 851–865. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2004.05.005
41.
OttenbacherMGnothJ (2005) How to develop successful hospitality innovation. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly46(2): 205–222. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010880404271097
42.
Pascual-FernándezPSantos-VijandeMLLópez-SánchezJÁ, et al. (2021) Key drivers of innovation capability in hotels: implications on performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management94: 102825. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102825
43.
PikkemaatBPetersMChanC-S (2018) Needs, drivers and barriers of innovation: the case of an alpine community-model destination. Tourism Management Perspectives25: 53–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2017.11.004
44.
PrebensenNK (2014) Facilitating for enhanced experience value In: Handbook of Research on Innovation in Tourism Industries. Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 154–178.
45.
Rabe-HeskethSSkrondalA (2008) Random-intercepts models with covariates. In: Rabe-HeskethS.SkrondalA. (eds). Multilevel and longitudinal modeling using Stata. 2nd ed. College Station, TX: Stata Press, 133–199.
46.
RacherlaPHuCHyunMY (2008) Exploring the role of innovative technologies in building a knowledge-based destination. Current Issues in Tourism11(5): 407–428. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500802316022
47.
RazumovaMIbáñezJLPalmerJR-M (2015) Drivers of environmental innovation in majorcan hotels. Journal of Sustainable Tourism23(10): 1529–1549. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2015.1062016
RogersEM (1995) Diffusion of innovations: modifications of a model for telecommunications In: Die Diffusion Von Innovationen in Der Telekommunikation. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 25–38.
SipeLJ (2021) Towards an experience innovation canvas: a framework for measuring innovation in the hospitality and tourism industry. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration22(1): 85–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/15256480.2018.1547240
52.
SipeLJTestaM (2009) What Is Innovation in the Hospitality and Tourism Marketplace? A Suggested Research Framework and Outputs Typology. International CHRIE Conference.
SundboJOrfila-SintesFSørensenF (2007) The innovative behaviour of tourism firms—Comparative studies of Denmark and Spain. Research Policy36(1): 88–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2006.08.004
55.
TeixeiraSJFerreiraJMAlmeidaA (2025) Innovation as a driver of business tourism competitiveness. Tourism Review80(3): 767–789. https://doi.org/10.1108/tr-06-2023-0427
56.
TejadaPMorenoP (2013) Patterns of innovation in tourism ‘small and medium-size enterprises. Service Industries Journal33(7-8): 749–758. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2013.740469
57.
ThomasRWoodE (2014) Innovation in tourism: re-Conceptualising and measuring the absorptive capacity of the hotel sector. Tourism Management45: 39–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2014.03.012
58.
TorchiaMCalabròAHuseM (2011) Women directors on corporate boards: from tokenism to critical mass. Journal of Business Ethics102(2): 299–317. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0815-z
59.
TorresITeruel-SerranoMDViñalsMJ (2025) Spatial distribution and challenges in European union funding: a perspective from tourism projects. Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights6(2): 100198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annale.2025.100198
ZrnićMBožićA (2024) The emergence of technological innovations in digital hospitality‒literature review. Turističko poslovanje33: 93–104.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
