Tourism innovations

The most important feature of the present stage of economic development is increase of the role of innovation as the basis of the economic growth, as well as the desire of developed countries to compete due to high-tech and nonstandard intangible assets.

Widespread introduction of innovative products and technologies into economic circulation has become a key factor of economic development and improvement of the quality of life.

Innovation is understood as "the end result of innovation activity that gets implemented in the form of a new or improved product sold on the market of a new or improved technological process applied in practice" [1].

Tourism innovations have a particularly important role. The world practice shows that on profitableness and developmental dynamics the tourism industry is inferior only to extraction and processing of oil and gas.

According to the World Tourism Organization tourism business provides 10% of a production and service market turnover, accounting for 7% of total world investments and 5% of all tax revenues [6].

For this reason it is necessary to pay more attention to the tourism industry, to promote the improvement of innovation processes in the field of tourism, to promote the creation of new products, services and new management technologies in the tourism business. Moreover, innovation development should be carried out both at the state level and at the level of tourism organizations themselves. It is innovative growth which leads to the creation and implementation of competitive products and services, improves the economic condition of not only a company but also of the entire tourism drift.

Under market economy conditions tourism organizations are increasingly aware of the need to develop new products and services and of related economic benefits. Kazakhstan has every reason for the innovative development of the tourism industry with its unique natural and cultural potential, as well as the huge interest of tourists from near and far abroad as to a new unreached direction.

The levers of the state influence on innovative activity of tourism organizations are: tax benefits of innovative active organizations, the implementation of special scientific, technical, tax and fiscal policies, the creation of favorable conditions for attracting domestic and foreign investments to the tourism industry, improvement of the amortization policy and setting priorities of the science development.

Innovation in the tourism industry is mainly aimed at creating a new tourism product, new approaches to marketing activities, as well as at the application of new management methods using IT technologies. Introduction of innovations will enhance the competitiveness of tourism enterprises. Creation of new promising types of tourism development increases growth of consumer demand in the market of tourism services.

It is necessary to highlight the following factors that determine the degree of innovation development of tourism:

- market conjuncture of the market and competition (both in the domestic and foreign markets);

- external environment (the level of development of science and technology, improvement of the legislative and legal framework, political and economic stability);

- staff (scientists, experts, entrepreneurs, managers, politicians, civil servants);

- resources (natural, industrial, financial, scientific, technical, technological, infrastructure) [2].

Engineering, technological, economical, management and social innovations are interrelated in tourism and in order to introduce an innovation it is necessary to make amendments in other areas. For example, in order to abandon old habits to confirm your reservation by fax and to switch to the “on-line booking” system which allows receiving instant confirmation of the tour, the company must train employees to install computers with appropriate software, to amend the terms of the contract between the operator and the customer, etc. In this case, the tour operator saves time for processing applications, accelerates the clearance of the tour, and its operational efficiency attracts new customers.

There is need of a system of innovation management meeting the requirements of the industry and the market to create an innovation strategy of tourism industry enterprises and to further implement innovative ideas in the sphere of tourism (automation, software development, development of new types of tourism and new tourist routes, the novelty of the hospitality services, etc.). The effectiveness of a new tourism product, the pace of development of innovative activity are defined in the manufacture of a new product which whether satisfies any completely new needs or allows you to expand the market for consumers. Innovative activity is manifested through the process of innovation and it is essential for economic growth and improvement of the quality of life.

Innovative development of the tourism industry is the development and creating of new tourist routes, products, services, etc. involving science, technology, IT technology and advanced experience in management and marketing, its implementation will increase employment, ensure the growth of the population income, improve social and economic development and tourist attraction of the country and regions.

Requirements of developmental dynamics of the tourism market determine both continuous improvement of legislation in the field of state support of tourism and intersectorial legislation affecting the state of the tourism industry.

In general, tourism has all the necessary conditions for innovative development of the tourism industry. Tourism is one of the leading and most dynamic sectors of the economy and thanks to a rapid pace of it development it is recognized as an economic phenomenon of the century. For 38% of countries the tourism is the main source of income and for 83% of countries it is one of five main sources of income.

As the current global social and economic phenomenon tourism sometimes operates under very tough competition conditions and it is characterized by a high degree of exposure to the innovation process and the observance of which is often the main feature determining competitiveness factor of tourism organizations.

The state should focus its efforts and available free resources on the development perspective for the entire national economy of knowledge intensive industries, i.e such industries which actively influence and contribute to the development of other sectors of the economy. And this industry is tourism [4]. 

The main functions of the innovation:

- Involvement of new productive forces into the production, increase of productivity and efficiency, reduction of various kinds of costs;

- Increase of the standard of living of every person and of the society as a whole due to the diversity and quality of products and services fulfilling the needs of the population;

- Help to align the structure of production to the structure of the changed needs, help to maintain a balance between supply and demand, between production and consumption;

- The application of creative ability and knowledge of a particular person, human intelligence which in its turn stimulates further growth of creative activity [2].

Study of trends and patterns of integrated development of innovations, planning positive results and management is a complex methodological problem in the tourism sector, primarily due to the classification of innovations. The classification criteria necessary to define the essence of innovations in tourism:

- Source of ideas (the needs of tourists, discoveries, inventions);

- Type of innovation (attractors, tourism infrastructure, tourism product, ways and means of distribution of tourism products/services, management, factors of production);

- The degree of novelty (improving, breakthrough);

- The breadth of impact, scale, connectivity (local, global, system);

- Investment content (not capital-intensive, low capital-intensive, capital-intensive) [3].

Innovations in tourism should be regarded as system events with high quality novelty and leading to positive changes, ensuring stable operation and development of the industry in the region. So, the idea of creating and implementation of tourism projects which are not even profitable from the beginning can give impetus to the development of tourism and thus actively contribute to the creating of additional jobs and income growth.

The innovation process in tourism is quite specific. As a rule, it receives its recognition on the one hand, through the tourist market and customer satisfaction, and on the other hand, mainly due to the adoption of joint decisions taken by tourist organizations, regulatory bodies, local authorities and public organizations whose activities are aligned with tourism, as well as due to assessing the industry by the local population. Only such an interaction of all elements (subjects and objects) of the innovation process can lead to significant synergies, expressed as a growth (development) of the tourism industry. Complexity and transformability of innovations when the implementation of something new in one area gives the effect (and probably a stronger one) to another area, constituting their essence in the industry, for that reason innovations need science-based organization and management [3].

The basic principles of innovations in tourism include:

1. The principle of science, consisting of the use of scientific knowledge and methods for the implementation of innovations that fulfill the needs of tourists.

2. The principle of systems. Elaboration of a strategy of innovative development of tourism in the region have to take into account the factors and conditions necessary to fulfill the needs of people in the town; resource potential of the region (economic, financial, human and other potentials); social impact on society; environmental factors.

3. The principle of fulfillment the needs of tourists. Suggestion of only those innovations that do really fulfill the needs of a client, and not those which can be produces and implemented by a tourist organization.

4. The principle of a positive result which consists of preventing unreasonable, not deliberate creating and innovations, that can be dangerous for the tourist first; secondly, for a particular company; Thirdly for the biosphere and the society as a whole.

5. The principle of the immanence of the investment process. In order to conduct the necessary research, develop and materialize innovations it is necessary to use materialized investment resources, which effectiveness is determined by the degree of importance and scale of an innovation.

6. Compliance of innovations and their results with the level of the society development.

7. The principle of connectivity. The innovation process ends up with the product yield on the market, which at some stage of its life cycle have to cause a need (to stimulate the idea) to create the next innovation and provide this process with financial support.

8. The principle of security. Any innovation should guarantee no harm to humans and the environment [3].

Innovation activity is a complex of scientific, technological, organizational, financial, commercial events that lead to innovation. Activity is innovative if it brings new knowledge, technologies, techniques and approaches to obtain a result that is in a high demand in the community. Enterprise innovation can be defined as the joint work of all employees, aimed at creating and implementing innovations. Innovative activity is systemic, a system is formed by a society and actors of the innovation.

The main directions of innovation activity in the sphere of tourism and hospitality:

- The production of new kinds of tourism products, products of the restaurant sector and hotel services, etc .;

- The use new techniques and technologies in the manufacture of traditional products;

- The use of absolutely new tourist resources that were not previously used. Unique example - traveling on spaceships;

- Changes in the production organization and consumption of traditional tourism, catering products, hotel services, etc.; new marketing, new management;

- The identification and use of new markets (hotel and restaurant chains).

The basis of the innovation activity in all sectors of the economy is the implementation of scientific and technological progress. The abovementioned fully applies to the field of social and cultural service and tourism [5].

The technological revolution has not only become the material basis for the formation of mass tourism, it has made a huge impact on innovation in social and cultural service and tourism through high technologies, which include new materials, microprocessor technology, media and biotechnology.

The occurrence of polymer, composite and other new materials has led to the emergence of new types of clothing and footwear, sport and other kinds of equipment, new tare and packaging, etc. New materials have become the material basis of extreme tourism and contributed to the development of aqueous tourism, hiking and a number of other types of tourism.

The appearance of modern communication medium has made a profound impact on the social production and on household. Modern tourist activities and work of tourist agencies can not be imagined without the Internet. Modern audio and visual equipment has significantly changed the management technology. Management is getting to a real-time basis, etc.

Thereby, innovation activity in the tourism sector aims at creating a new product or modifying the existing one, at improvement of transport, accommodation and other services and development of new markets and introduction of advanced information and communication technologies, modern forms of organization and management.

Tourism sphere today is one of the most promising and lucrative economical spheres. About 10% of the world gross income fall to its share including 8% of the total world export and 30-35% of the world services trade.

Tourism is constantly evolving despite various obstacles of political, economic and social issues. Tourist business in many cases is the initiator and the experimenter in the development and implementation of advanced technologies, continually changing forms and methods of supply and provision of services, opening and developing new opportunities.

Work force of the tourism industry deals with a variety of forms and methods of leisure arrangement, travel and cultural activities. Tourism development is only possible through the introduction of new ideas, improvement of goods and services production and expanding the production range.

Tourism daily implements all sorts of innovations under the influence of both scientific and technological progress and intellectual development of mankind.

Sometimes innovations in tourism arise unexpectedly and unpredictably even under the influence of events in the community. That’s why the study of innovation processes and the causes of innovations and development of methods for their implementation is of a great scientific and practical interest [7].

We should also mention how important is the role of the state in the development of innovations in the tourism sphere. And we should highlight the relevancy of development and implementation of the state support mechanisms.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Novikov V.S. Innovations in tourism. Training manual // M.: Publishing Center “Academy”, 2007. – p. 208.

2. GershmanМ.А. Innovation management. Training manual // М.: Market DS, 2008, p. 200.

3. World Tourism Organization UNWTO Website www. unwto. org.en

4. Materials of the All-Union Scientific and Practical Conference “Actual aspects of economics, management and innovations”// Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University named after R.Y. Alekseev 2010.,p.124.

5. Malakhova N.N., Ushakov D.S. Innovations in tourism and services. - M.: Publishing Commercial Center “MART”, Rostov-on-Don: Publishing Center “MART” 2008.- p 224. («Tourism and services»).

6. Novikov V.S. Innovations in tourism. Training manual / Novikov V.S. - M.: Publishing Center “Academy”, 2007. – p. 208.

7. Sevastyanova S.A. Regional planning of tourism and hotel industry: training manual / Sevastyanova S.A. - M.: “KNORUS”, 2007. - p. 256.