Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the state of academic research on innovation in tourism. The authors present a systematic review of the literature, different research approaches and perspectives on tourism innovation; offer a synthesis of our findings and provide a discussion and proposals for future research. Design/methodology/approach Existing studies on innovation in hospitality and tourism (included in the Web of Knowledge database) were reviewed, and their limitations were identified. A procedure used in previous studies (Crossan and Apaydin, 2010; Tranfield et al., 2003; Becheikh et al., 2006) was applied. Moreover, aiming to reveal theoretical foundations of tourism innovation research and identify their structure, a bibliometric analysis was performed. Findings This paper identifies 152 published papers that represent the major efforts in expanding the body of research on innovation in hospitality and tourism. The importance of innovation for business and regional competitiveness and success has been recognised by both researchers and practitioners. In the papers included in the sample of this paper, the authors identified a general consensus that much remains to be done in the development of the theory of innovation in tourism. Through bibliometric analysis, nine co-citation networks, or clusters, were retrieved by applying co-citation relations among the most cited authors. The examination of these nine clusters revealed some dominant themes that characterise the field. Research limitations/implications The authors used three databases: Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and Arts & Humanities Citation Index. While these databases may not include all relevant research, the authors, nonetheless, believe that by using a rigorous procedure in reviewing the literature systematically, they were able to reduce the probability of neglecting any information that would critically change the content of the present paper. Practical implications The aim of this paper was to bring together the prior research with presently existing models that may be used in further research. For the continuation of the research, the authors propose additional studies with the aim of theory development. By introducing new theoretical ideas and theoretical models, more qualitative and inductive research would help to stimulate further work. As stated above, researchers could go further by undertaking quantitative methods to empirically verify the theoretically proposed models. Originality/value Since the last review (Hjalager, 2010) of past studies in tourism innovation, mostly focusing on studies up to 2009, tourism innovation research has grown noticeably in terms of diverse topics. In this paper’s database, the year with the most publications was 2012 with 48 papers, followed by 2014 with 42 (by 19 September), 2010 and 2011 with 41 and 2009 with 29. To the authors’ knowledge, no updated reviews focusing on innovation in tourism have been published recently. This study, consisting of a systematic review of academic literature, includes analyses of the international context, the methodology used, the points of view, the level of analysis (micro-level, macro-level and general level) and the type of innovation discussed in the paper. Moreover, the authors did not find any studies that used bibliometric analysis to identify the structure of the theoretical foundation of research in the area of innovation in tourism.

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Purpose – The tourism sector is heavily dependent on entrepreneurship and cannot survive in the long run if it is not both sustainable and entrepreneurial at the same time; these three areas – entrepreneurship, sustainability, and tourism – are rarely linked in research and are not reflected in appropriate policy-making measures. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual multilevel model that will provide a requisitely holistic means for studying sustainable entrepreneurship in the tourism sector. Design/methodology/approach – In the process of developing a model, the authors took into account the principle of requisite variety and considered various dimensions related to sustainable entrepreneurship implicated at three levels of analysis – namely, individual (entrepreneur), organizational (SME), and national/regional (tourism destination). Findings – The proposed model provides systemic and systematic views on sustainable entrepreneurship in the tourism sector and contains various levels of analysis. The holistic framework for studying sustainable entrepreneurship in the tourism helps highlight influential elements from an economics point of view as well as their measurable and internationally comparable outcomes. Originality/value – The suggested model represents an initial step toward the measurement of sustainable entrepreneurship in tourism at various levels, thereby making a valuable contribution to future research designs seeking to evaluate the benefits of sustainable entrepreneurship. The paper provides an important foundation for evidence-based policy making with the aim of fostering requisitely holistic behavior and innovative, responsible, and sustainable entrepreneurship practices in the tourism sector.

Purpose – This paper aims to analyse the determinants of business start-ups and their impact on entrepreneurial performance. The theoretical part indicates that the importance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) considers the role of entrepreneur in the business process and provides an overview of theoretical and empirical findings in the main determinants of business start-ups. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical part is based on quantitative survey results from a model of business start-up factors and relations with the entrepreneurs' performance. The data were analysed using the statistical package for data analysis SPSS for Windows. The factor analysis was performed separately for the set of variables that have measured the reasons for founding the start-up, the personality traits, environmental factors and performance. The paper used a multiple linear regression model to identify the strength, direction and impact of different factors on the start-up performance. Findings – In general, the study identifies which indicators influence entrepreneurs' performance (personal and business) in the first years of their companies. The paper revealed the heterogeneity of the measures for performance and their different natures (from financial indicators to those related to the entrepreneur satisfaction). Consequently, one of the most significant findings of the research is that, in spite of the fact that the most commonly used indicators for the firm performance in the literature are financial, the paper should not neglect the so-called perceived performance. This is how entrepreneurs are satisfied with their success. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to Slovenian SMEs, but can be generalised to other regions. The study offers notable contributions for research and practice (improvements in SME environmental factors). Practical implications – The personal traits and appropriate business environments can have beneficial effects on the entrepreneur's perceived performance. The findings can be used to guide the government in efficient management of different dimensions of entrepreneur environment. Originality/value – This study proved the existence of latent elements of the entrepreneur's perceived performance. It gives valuable information, which hopefully will help the policy makers and entrepreneurs to give greater respect to the meaning of critical personal and environmental factors.

T he study aims to provide a better understanding of destination competitiveness and elements that affect competitive position of a tourism destination. The research is design as a comparative study of Slovenia and Serbia. For analysing a competitiveness of mentioned destinations, the Integrated model of destination competitiveness was used. The results showed that both destinations are considered to be more competitive in its natural, cultural, and created resources, but less competitive in the destination management and, according to the Integrated model, demand conditions. Based on these findings, relevant proposals are made in order to improve competitive positions of destinations. ARTICLE INFO JEL classification: L83, C12, O20

This paper presents various definitions of knowledge as human capital, and analyses some fundamental challenges regarding the measurement of employees’ knowledge of a firm, especially in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The paper reviews the literature pertaining to the assessment of knowledge assets, proceeds to develop a model of SME employees’ knowledge, and presents the results of an empirical test conducted among 173 Slovenian SMEs. Scales were tested for reliability and validity. A structural equation modelling technique was used to verify the theoretically proposed model of the employees’ knowledge. The multidimensionality of the developed SME knowledge construct was confirmed. The proposed model of the employees’ knowledge consists of five main dimensions: innovation capabilities and willingness to learn, attitude, job qualification, formal education, and work experience. To verify and confirm the proposed model, an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was performed. The new construct and concept developed in this study offers a near complete picture that can be used as a research framework in future examinations of the importance of knowledge for SME performance.