This paper seeks to focus on the role of virtual communities as a means to boost tourist product innovation by leveraging customer relationships. Its purpose is to offer a deeper and clear‐cut understanding of the collaborative innovation paradigm in order to analyze its impact on tourism firm management.
First, previous work in tourist innovation and the role of lead users as a source of learning are examined. Then, virtual communities and their development process are explored. Last, the case of CTS's virtual community, an Italian‐based tour operator firm is analyzed. Strategic and managerial implications conclude the paper.
Data and insights gathered from interviews lead one to suggest that tourism firms may strategically leverage virtual communities to build strong customer relationships; customers may provide useful information on their needs; and collaborative innovation is a useful lens to take into account internet opportunities and customers' knowledge.
The main limitation of the study is that the findings cannot be extended to the other industries. The approach has been to compare only the collaborative innovation schemes with tourism industry.
Despite a number of limitations, the work offers a deeper picture on how virtual communities may be managed strategically in order to enhance quality and product innovation. It also presents managerial implications since managers may put in practice the planning and managing model of online communities successfully.
