Smart Tourism Development in the Peripheral Areas: The Opportunity of Startups

Smart Tourism is a concept that has catched the attention of several researchers in recent years. However, there are still few studies on its application in non-urban contexts. This paper focuses on the corporate component of smart tourism and the role of tourism start-ups for the territorial innovation processes in peripheral areas. To support the analysis, the authors present a case study of a start-up tourism-oriented located in the peripheral area of Alta Irpinia (Campania region, Southern Italy). The study highlights how tourism start-ups play a critical role in the development of different types of innovation. The start-up’s contribution to these innovation processes involves both its technical components and its relationship dimension. The latter makes use of the active participation of the community, institutions and the academic world to generate territorial innovation processes. Innovation in the field of tourism is understood as an open process developed on the flow of knowledge generated by the interdependence between business, local community and tourists.