English abstract
Recently, innovation in tourism sector has become very popular in the hotel industry which is considered to be the most important branch of tourism because of its ability to provide revenue and satisfy the needs of the guests. However, research of innovation in the hospitality industry especially in Turkey is still in its beginnings. Taking this into account, after describing innovation in general, and highlights the intensity of innovation activity in tourism, it gives evidence about the rapid evolution of the tourism industry. It also aims to fulfill the lack of analysis in the field of tourism in Turkey. The data refers to discuss what innovation in hotel industry is in terms of a literature review and to develop a case study in a chain hotel in Konya, Turkey providing a homogeneous set of information. The results show that for the transformation of successful innovation in the industry, the idea of the human who is innovative at every level is crucial in order to motivate society and encourage creativity at every level. The implementation of a Hotel Integrated Management System is accepted as an important innovation which contributes mainly to organizational innovation and firms use politics of sustainability as a strategy for innovation and differentiation from competition. Furthermore, a national innovation strategy in the hotel industry which must urgently be devised within the participation and contributions of all related stakeholders in the sector. Finally, this study will serve as a starting point for academic and practitioner dialogue and suggest that reaching consensus on a typology critical to advancing new knowledge in a comprehensive manner.
