A theoretical contribution from the perspective of innovation process in wine tourism contexts

The innovation process, and its application to tourism, has been gradually gaining ground in the academic community as a field of study. Similarly, in recent decades, tourism has received greater attention from researchers in various sciences, varying only by the different emphases considered: economic, social, cultural and environmental. This increased attention must be welcomed, as innovation research represents a meaningful and valuable way of understanding the economic dynamics of the tourism industry, and deeper insights will be helpful for the industry and policy makers alike. The purpose of this article is to identify literature on special interest tourism innovation, in particular from the perspective of wine tourism. In order to structure the sometimes unclear use of the innovation process (in tourism research), the article will present closely to primary classical innovation and entrepreneurship issues. This is a conceptual perspective that brings together the major components of innovation process and its implications in special interest tourism perspective We also consider some of the implications for management, as well as suggestions for future lines of research. This article concludes by drawing attention to the challenging research needs.