Innovation for Sustainability by Smaller Organizations

Abstract

In the context of growing sustainability challenges, organizations are increasingly expected to take action and report on sustainability. However, many organizations and local communities struggle with concretizing and balancing sustainability goals and actions. The present study, which draws upon parts of a larger qualitative case study, examines and compares six innovation pilots within the experience-based tourism industry. All cases received financial support within a program promoting an overall strategy of getting visitors to stay longer in tourist destinations. The chapter contributes knowledge to the field of innovation for sustainability in tourism and experiences by concretizing strategies and sustainability impacts and discussing them in relation to the concepts of weak and strong sustainability. The cases illustrate different ways the tourism industry and other collaborators can work toward achieving the sustainability development goals (SDGs) by avoiding negative impacts and increasing positive impacts within economic, environmental, and social sustainability dimensions.