Wonderment in tourism land: three tales of innovation

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe paper uses an unconventional story format to report on three cases of tourism innovation, using the literary genre of nonsense to also contemplate narrative expression in academic research. Case materials principally derive from open in-depth interviews. The analysis highlights the importance of knowledge in innovation, also illuminating an important relationship to entrepreneurial passion. Notably, passionate interest inspires a learning habit that builds enabling stocks of knowledge; these knowledge stocks render the necessary technical knowledge and situational awareness to see and seize innovation opportunity. By using their vast stock of knowledge, entrepreneurs can identify needed resources and know-how and ways to fill in the gaps. In prosaic terms, this ingrained learning habit depicts a story of incremental innovation at personal scale. Use of the literary nonsense genre overtly positions narrative as a rhetorical form, inviting contemplation of alternative forms of scholarly expression. In this respect, novel forms of expression open the way to new insight into social phenomena. Polyvocality enhances our knowledge of the social world.