Innovation in tourism: A diverging line of research in need of a synthesis

This commentary note critically re-examines the extant literature on innovation in tourism and delineates the pattern that has characterized its development over the last two decades. By referring to different reviews and integrating them with the inspection of subsequent contributions, a divergence is identified with respect to some core aspects of the innovation literature. The motivations and the implications of this divergence are discussed. In particular, some risks are identified in its continuation, which an alternative synthetic combination between tourism and innovation studies could curb.