IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/anture/v116y2026ics0160738325001963.html

Collective actions for sustainable tourism innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Melenez-Roman, Jose
  • Font, Xavier

Abstract

This study shows how stakeholder interactions, and formal and informal rules drive sustainability innovation through collective action. We use the Institutional Analysis and Development framework to assess the capacity of tourism stakeholders to engage in sustainability innovations. Drawing on a multistage qualitative data collection process, including interviews and workshops, we comparatively analyze an existing sustainability innovation and a stakeholder-led, co-created innovation, testing ten design principles for management systems rooted in collective action and self-governance theories. We find that (i) incentives to free-ride accumulate over time, (ii) legitimacy enables institutional change in destinations, (iii) shared responsibility helps unveil interactions between stakeholders in managing tourism sustainability, and (iv) self-governing rules can help engage opposing stakeholders more democratically in sustainable destination management.

Suggested Citation

  • Melenez-Roman, Jose & Font, Xavier, 2026. "Collective actions for sustainable tourism innovation," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:anture:v:116:y:2026:i:c:s0160738325001963
    DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2025.104090
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160738325001963
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.annals.2025.104090?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bert Smit & Frans Melissen & Xavier Font & Astrid Dickinger, 2024. "Destination design: identifying three key co-design strategies," Current Issues in Tourism, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(24), pages 4791-4806, December.
    2. Makkonen, Teemu & Williams, Allan M., 2024. "Cross-border tourism and innovation system failures," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    3. Crawford, Sue E. S. & Ostrom, Elinor, 1995. "A Grammar of Institutions," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 89(3), pages 582-600, September.
    4. Bertella, Giovanna & Lupini, Sara & Rossi Romanelli, Cecilia & Font, Xavier, 2021. "Workshop methodology design: Innovation-oriented participatory processes for sustainability," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    5. Scerri, Madalyn A. & Manfreda, Anita & Presbury, Rajka & Comastri, Andrea, 2026. "Inclusive social innovation for hospitality employment," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    6. Suno Wu, Jenny & Barbrook-Johnson, Pete & Font, Xavier, 2021. "Participatory complexity in tourism policy: Understanding sustainability programmes with participatory systems mapping," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    7. Warren, Giannina & Dilmperi, Athina & Dinnie, Keith, 2021. "Power struggles and playing politics: An application of Bourdieu's cultural intermediation theory to place marketing," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    8. Rodríguez, Isabel & Williams, Allan M. & Hall, C. Michael, 2014. "Tourism innovation policy: Implementation and outcomes," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 76-93.
    9. Dredge, Dianne & Jamal, Tazim, 2015. "Progress in tourism planning and policy: A post-structural perspective on knowledge production," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 285-297.
    10. Nicolás L. Gutiérrez & Ray Hilborn & Omar Defeo, 2011. "Leadership, social capital and incentives promote successful fisheries," Nature, Nature, vol. 470(7334), pages 386-389, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Suno Wu, Jenny & Barbrook-Johnson, Pete & Font, Xavier, 2021. "Participatory complexity in tourism policy: Understanding sustainability programmes with participatory systems mapping," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    2. Crabolu, Gloria & Font, Xavier & Eker, Sibel, 2023. "Evaluating policy complexity with Causal Loop Diagrams," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    3. Crabolu, Gloria & Font, Xavier & Eker, Sibel, 2023. "Evaluating Policy Instrument Complexity With Causal Loop Diagrams," SocArXiv 2c83b, Center for Open Science.
    4. Frimpong Boamah, Emmanuel, 2018. "Constitutional economics of Ghana’s decentralization," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 256-267.
    5. Richter, Andries & Dakos, Vasilis, 2015. "Profit fluctuations signal eroding resilience of natural resources," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 12-21.
    6. Craig Leisher & Leah H. Samberg & Pieter Van Buekering & M. Sanjayan, 2013. "Focal Areas for Measuring the Human Well-Being Impacts of a Conservation Initiative," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-14, March.
    7. Gianelli, Ignacio & Martínez, Gastón & Defeo, Omar, 2015. "An ecosystem approach to small-scale co-managed fisheries: The yellow clam fishery in Uruguay," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 196-202.
    8. Thomas, Rhodri & Wood, Emma, 2015. "The absorptive capacity of tourism organisations," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 84-99.
    9. Röttgers, Dirk, 2016. "Conditional cooperation, context and why strong rules work — A Namibian common-pool resource experiment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 21-31.
    10. E. J. Bird, "undated". "Exploring the stigma of food stamps," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1097-96, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    11. David P Carter & Christopher M Weible & Saba N Siddiki & Xavier Basurto, 2016. "Integrating core concepts from the institutional analysis and development framework for the systematic analysis of policy designs: An illustration from the US National Organic Program regulation," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 28(1), pages 159-185, January.
    12. Saba Siddiki & Xavier Basurto & Christopher M. Weible, 2012. "Using the institutional grammar tool to understand regulatory compliance: The case of Colorado aquaculture," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(2), pages 167-188, June.
    13. de Melo, Gioia & Piaggio, Matías, 2015. "The perils of peer punishment: Evidence from a common pool resource framed field experiment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 376-393.
    14. Gita Å akytÄ—-StatnickÄ— & Anna Katarzyna Mazurek-Kusiak & Laurencija BudrytÄ—-AusiejienÄ—, 2026. "Creativity at the workplace: Comparative study of tourism organizations in Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden," Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, Fundacja Upowszechniająca Wiedzę i Naukę "Cognitione", vol. 22(1), pages 78-94.
    15. Adam Martin & Matias Petersen, 2019. "Poverty Alleviation as an Economic Problem," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 43(1), pages 205-221.
    16. Mariani, Marcello M. & Giorgio, Luisa, 2017. "The “Pink Night” festival revisited: Meta-events and the role of destination partnerships in staging event tourism," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 89-109.
    17. Jia He & Miao Ma & Yuxuan Zhou & Miaoke Wang, 2023. "What We Have Learned about the Characteristics and Differences of Disaster Information Behavior in Social Media—A Case Study of the 7.20 Henan Heavy Rain Flood Disaster," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-18, March.
    18. Francesco Molica & Francesco Cappellano & Teemu Makkonen, 2025. "Re-thinking Regional Innovation Systems in the age of de-globalization," Working Papers TIMES² 2025-080, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    19. Haitao Wu & Ruohan Zhong & Pinrui Guo & Yunxia Guo & Yu Hao, 2024. "The role of the digital economy in tourism: mechanism, causality and geospatial spillover," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 66(6), pages 2355-2395, June.
    20. Barbara Quimby & Arielle Levine, 2018. "Participation, Power, and Equity: Examining Three Key Social Dimensions of Fisheries Comanagement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-20, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:anture:v:116:y:2026:i:c:s0160738325001963. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/annals-of-tourism-research/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.