Collaboration, creativity and entrepreneurship in tourism: a case study of how design thinking created a cultural cluster in Dublin
by Peter Robbins; Frank Devitt
International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management (IJEIM), Vol. 21, No. 3, 2017

Abstract: Tourism accounts for 7.3% of national employment in Ireland and tourists with a craving for culture, the 'culturally curious', are a key market-segment. Following Ireland's economic collapse, the national tourism agency has evolved its role from funding tourism infrastructure to facilitating collaborative innovation. This paper presents the revelatory case study of Merrion Square, a tourism local innovation system (TLIS) of mainly cultural organisations who collaborated using design thinking, which incorporated ethnographic research, involving customers, tour operators, historians and artists to develop a portfolio of entrepreneurial and novel ideas for enhanced tourism experiences. The result was a series of successful new enterprises and the development of a sustained higher level of cooperation between the institutions. 85% of the institutions involved report increased visitor numbers as a consequence. This paper makes a valuable contribution by establishing design thinking's role in collaborative, multi-sectoral tourism service innovation and entrepreneurship.

Online publication date: Fri, 31-Mar-2017

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