Abstract

This article focuses on the main trends of innovation for tourism companies operating in a sharing economy environment. Over the last decade, the tourism sector has seen deep transformations on the demand and supply side. Today's travel and tourism - marketplaces are driven by the growth of new segments, with the fragmentation of consumer needs, such as preferences for «authentic» local experiences. In the age of experimentation of new ideas, both traditional and digital travel companies of all sizes must adopt an open innovation approach to identify and capitalise on opportunities. New traveller expectations of the service experience are challenging all actors to continually improve the way they operate, in terms of how the tourist product is sold, how travellers are serviced and how disruption is managed. In addition to traditional sectors such as accommodation and transport, the areas in which the greatest potentials are found in the use of sharing economy practices applied to the tourism industry are related to distribution and booking of in-destination services with mixed B2B2C models.