Knowledge Transfer and Innovation in the Visitor Attraction Sector

Studies of knowledge transfer and the diffusion of innovations in tourism have largely ignored the attraction sector. This study examines the level and form of knowledge transfer amongst attractions in Cornwall (UK), paying particular attention to the significance of spatial clustering and product similarity. It is based on in-depth interviews with tourist attraction managers and key informants in two contrasting spatial clusters. The findings demonstrate that spatial proximity, product similarity and market similarity have positive impacts on knowledge transfers and innovation spillovers, at both the local and the regional scales. They also show that the influences of product similarity and spatial proximity are closely related, but that the first of these is generally more influential at both the local and particularly, the regional scale. The paper also identifies some of the sources, mechanisms, channels and outcomes of knowledge transfer.