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Traditionally, locations, destinations, and living spaces have been managed, developed, and marketed separately. However, various global megatrends such as digitalization, globalization, or climate change—as well as changing needs of workers, tourists, or residents—have put these spatial layers in a state of transformation. In the course of this transformation, integrated spatial development and management concepts have emerged over the past two decades, as modern cities need to manage their neighborhoods and living spaces, business locations, leisure and culture offers, and their tourism attractions holistically. Two main development paths are elaborated: place management, and the ecosystem approach.

PurposeThe below-average innovative capacity of the tourism sector raises the question on the potentials of digital business ecosystems (DBEs) to overcome these shortages at a destination level – especially within a smart city environment. Using the example of the German Capital Berlin, this article aims to discuss both the possibilities and inhibitors of innovative knowledge-creation by building scenarios on one specific design option: the integration of digital deep learning (DL) functionalities and traditional organizational learning (OL) processes.Design/methodology/approachUsing the qualitative GABEK-method, major characteristics of a DBE as resource-, platform- and innovation systems are analyzed toward their interactions with the construction of basic action models (as the basic building blocks of knowledge).FindingsAgainst the background of the research findings, two scenarios are discussed for future evolution of the Berlin DBE, one building on cultural emulation as a trigger for optimized DL functionalities and one following the idea of cultural engineering supported by DL functionalities. Both scenarios focus specifically on the identified systemic inhibitors of innovative capabilities.Research limitations/implicationsWhile this study highlights the potential of the GABEK method to analyze mental models, separation of explicit and latent models still remains challenging – so does the reconstruction of higher order mental models which require a combined take on interview techniques in the future.Originality/valueThe resulting scenarios innovatively combine concepts from OL theory with the concept of DBE, thus indicating possible pathways into a tourism future where the limitations of human learning capacities could be compensated through the targeted support of general artificial intelligence (AI).

This paper focuses on Design Thinking as a tool for initiating transformation processes both for the enhancement of company resilience, involving challenges connected to current trends such as digitalization and democratic leadership, as well as for the restructuring of a sustainable socio-ecological company organization. Primary findings of this explorative study show that Design Thinking is a suitable method to promote digital, democratic, and innovative business and leadership transformation, but that it is not primarily operationalized in the context of a further-reaching socio-ecological transformation towards more sustainability.

In order to assess the impact of covid-19 on catholic pastoral care, an exploratory study was conducted in South Tyrol (Italy) by administering an online survey to parish priests and laypeople with an office within the local Diocese. With reference to the lockdown period, the research aimed to investigate: (1) how pastoral care was delivered; (2) changes in the use of ict within religious activities; and (3) the vision of the future for the Church in a mediatized world. Respondents believe that: (1) pastoral activities have slowed down, even though contact with the faithful was kept up through phone or the Internet; (2) the level of digitalization of the parishes has increased; however, the communication was mostly one-way and top-down. Finally, results show that (3) attitudes towards digital media are divergent: they are perceived as having the potential to either strengthen or weaken the relationship between the Church and the faithful.

ZusammenfassungAm Beispiel der Destinationsentwicklung des Deutschlandtourismus zielt dieser Beitrag darauf ab, strategische Vorgehensweisen in der Destinationsentwicklung im Zuge der andauernden Covid-19-Pandemie zu analysieren. Die Krise hat gezeigt, dass eine langfristige Strategieentwicklung für die touristische Wettbewerbsfähigkeit notwendig ist und traditionelle Geschäftsmodelle überdacht werden müssen. Auf Grundlage der Erkenntnisse einer studentischen Masterexkursion sowie einer Veranstaltungsreihe wurde eine qualitative Interviewreihe durchgeführt, wobei festgestellt werden konnte, dass die wirtschaftlichen Auswirkungen auf die Destinationen weitreichend sind und für eine Post-Corona-Zeit grundlegende Veränderungen bei der Destinationsentwicklung diskutiert werden müssen. Insbesondere die Einbindung und Partizipation der lokalen Bevölkerung mittels eines Dialogmanagements gewinnt vor dem Hintergrund der Krise an Relevanz und stellt ein wichtiges strategisches Instrument dar. Die zentrale Herausforderung allerdings bleibt, die einheimische Bevölkerung dergestalt in die Prozesse zu integrieren, sodass das Tourismusbewusstsein nachhaltig gefördert wird.

The transformation of the tourism industry to ensure more sustainable consumption and production practices also requires the transformation of tourists. Tourism is assumed to possess the potential ...

Digitalization, new work and leisure concepts and global challenges are transforming the way we live. More stakeholders, including residents and entrepreneurs, actively participate in the implementation of alternative socio-economic concepts; as such, entrepreneurial ecosystems are seen as drivers of regional development. The research still lacks holistic approaches to the application of ecosystems in tourism destinations. Hence, the objectives of this article are to capture research on entrepreneurial ecosystems in tourism and, specifically, to derive a holistic model that integrates destination and location management across stakeholders. This research utilizes the method of a systematic literature review, starting with 597 articles on ecosystems. Following four stages of exploring the literature, the results show that most articles have been published in rather isolated fields of smart tourism or quality of life aspects. Based on the rather qualitative review that reveals specific ecosystem components, we propose a model of an “Ecosystem of Hospitality” (EoH). Focusing on stakeholder interaction and encounters, the EoH fosters the adoption of the entrepreneurial ecosystem to destinations in a dynamic approach. The practical implications are, for example, a broader consideration of various stakeholders, including the local population, and a switch in typical destination management tasks from mere tourism service production to regional development and living space management.