Tourism Industry: Knowledge Intensive Service Activities

Knowledge Intensive Service Activities
in the
Tourism Industry
in Australia
A report prepared for the OECD KISA project

This report has been prepared by the Australian Government. It includes research carried out by
Dr M. Cristina Martinez-Fernandez, Dr Claudine Soosay, Professor Krishna Venni Venkata, Dr
Phillip Toner, Professor Tim Turpin, Merete Bjørkli and Navin Doloswala from the
Australian Expert Group in Industry Studies (AEGIS) at the University of Western Sydney, with
funding from the Australian Research Council through the Linkage Grant LP0349167: 'Driving
Innovation Mixing Matching and Transforming Knowledge Intensive Services into Innovation at
the Firm Level’. Dr Lyndal Thorburn of Innovation Dynamics Pty Ltd undertook the research on
the firm level case studies. The report is indebted to Professor Jane Marceau, Dr Mike Hales and
Dr Kevin Bryant as originators of the concept of KISA.
2
CONTENTS
Summary ............................................................................................................................. 6
1. Innovation and the Importance of KISA .................................................................... 8
1.1 Introduction......................................................................................................... 8
1.2 The KISA study .................................................................................................. 8
2. Methodology for the Tourism Study......................................................................... 10
2.1 Introduction....................................................................................................... 10
2.2 The survey......................................................................................................... 10
2.3 Case studies: the innovators.............................................................................. 12
2.5 Limitations of the study .................................................................................... 13
3. The Tourism Industry in Australia: Statistical Overview ......................................... 15
3.1 Definitions......................................................................................................... 15
3.2 Composition of the industry.............................................................................. 15
3.3 The economic contribution of the Industry....................................................... 17
3.4 Employment...................................................................................................... 17
3.5 Tourism exports ................................................................................................ 19
3.6 Tourism research and development .................................................................. 19
4. Government Policies and Programs for the Industry................................................ 20
5. Findings from the Survey.......................................................................................... 22
5.1 Innovation and the use of KISA........................................................................ 22
5.2 Sources of KISA ............................................................................................... 26
5.3 Access to government grants ............................................................................ 29
5.4 Summary of findings......................................................................................... 30
6. Key Findings from the Case Studies: The Innovators .............................................. 31
6.1 Types of innovation .......................................................................................... 31
6.2 Use of external KISA........................................................................................ 33
6.3 Sources of KISA ............................................................................................... 36
6.3.1 Role of R&D institutions .......................................................................... 36
6.3.2 Role of industry associations .................................................................... 36
6.3.3 Role of informal networks ........................................................................ 36
6.3.4 Role of government................................................................................... 37
6.4 Firm capabilities................................................................................................ 37
6.4.1 Learning by firms...................................................................................... 37
6.4.2 Knowledge management........................................................................... 39
6.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 39
7. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 41
7.1 Awareness of KISA .......................................................................................... 41
7.2 Sources and Availability of KISA .................................................................... 41
7.3 Policy Implications ........................................................................................... 42
References......................................................................................................................... 43
Attachment 1: Survey Instrument ..................................................................................... 45
Attachment 2: Interview Guide......................................................................................... 50
3
TABLES
Table 1: Educational qualifications (survey sample)...................................................... 11
Table 2: Business structure ............................................................................................. 11
Table 3: Characteristics of Innovator Case Study Firms ................................................ 13
Table 4: Number of businesses in the Tourism Industry in Australia ............................ 15
Table 5: Number of management units by employment size for Tourism ..................... 16
Table 6: Tourism Share of consumption......................................................................... 17
Table 7: Employed Persons in Tourism, 2002-03 .......................................................... 18
Table 8: Occupational Structure of Total Employment and Tourist Industry ................ 18
Table 9: Exports of Tourism Goods and Services .......................................................... 19
Table 10: Direct Tourism Related Spending by Australian Government 2002-03 .......... 20
Table 11: Firms with tourism awards and radical innovation........................................... 22
Table 12: Use of KISA ..................................................................................................... 23
Table 13: Frequent use of KISA by firm business cycle .................................................. 24
Table 14: Use of KISA-related services ........................................................................... 24
Table 15: Expenditure on KIS by Tourism Award winners ............................................. 25
Table 16: >$50,000 Expenditure on KISA and size of the firm ....................................... 25
Table 17: Sources of KISA ............................................................................................... 26
Table 18: KISA: mix of sources ....................................................................................... 27
Table 19: Preferred location for provision of KISA-related services ............................... 28
Table 20: Tourism awards and government grants........................................................... 29
Table 21: Radical Innovations of Tourism Case Studies.................................................. 31
Table 22: Incremental Innovation in Tourism Case Studies............................................. 33
Table 23: Use of External Services by Tourism Case Studies.......................................... 35
FIGURES
Figure 1: Years in operation…………………………………………………………….. 12
Figure 2: Average turnover............................................................................................... 12
Figure 3: Changes to products/services ............................................................................ 22
Figure 4: Firm expenditure on KISA-related services...................................................... 25
Figure 5: Provision of services ......................................................................................... 27
Figure 6: Location of KISA-related providers.................................................................. 28
Figure 7: Inputs to KISA financed by Government grants ............................................... 29
4
ABBREVIATIONS
ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics
BTR Bureau of Tourism Research
CRC Co-operative Research Centre
DITR Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources
GDP Gross domestic product
ICT Information and communications technology
KIS Knowledge intensive service
KISA Knowledge intensive service activity
KIBS Knowledge intensive business service
MIIP Most important innovative product
MNC Multinational corporation
R&D Research and development
RTO Research and technology organisation
SMEs Small and medium enterprises
5
Summary
Note: all currency in this paper is expressed in Australian dollars. At time of writing,
AU$1 was equal to approximately US$0.75.
This paper explores the knowledge intensive service activities (KISA) which firms in the
Australian tourism industry use in innovation. It is part of an OECD project which is
studying the role of KISA in the innovation systems of different industries. It looks at
tourism firms’ choices among providers of innovation expertise, reports insights into the
reasons for the choices made, and indicates how firms mix and match and internalise the
knowledge-intensive services used.
The study consists of an overview from secondary sources of the tourism industry, an
online survey, and six case studies of tourism businesses. The study has significant
limitations. The small numbers surveyed mean that the data cannot be claimed as
representative of the industry. Nor are the case study firms representative, as they were
selected on the basis that they were innovative. Nevertheless the analysis provides
valuable information for understanding the role of KISA in innovation in tourism.
Tourism contributes 4.2 per cent of Australia’s GDP and is an important export industry,
making up 11 per cent of exports. It is also an import component of regional economies,
and is employment intensive, accounting for 5.7 per cent of total employment. The labour
force is relatively unskilled. Spending on research and development in tourism is lower
than in other industries, and the industry is not generally regarded as innovative. Indeed,
in some cases the competitive advantage of a destination depends on its predictability.
Tourism policy measures are directed to promoting Australia as a tourism destination,
improving the competitiveness and diversity of regional attractions through regional
tourism programs, providing assistance to small and medium tourism operators through
generic programs, and encouraging Australians to take more holidays domestically. The
Australian Government’s Tourism White Paper in 2003 provided a strategic framework
for the sector, which includes research, marketing coordination, and identification of
niche markets.
The firms in the survey described themselves as innovative, driven by fierce competition
and increasingly demanding consumers. The most widely used services were research
and development (probably predominantly market research), marketing and promotion,
accounting and financial services and information technology services. Use of training
and recruitment services was low, and so was use of external accreditation services.
Expenditure on externally provided KISA was generally low, for many firms totally less
than a fifth of an average wage.
Internal provision of KISA was important. Of external sources, private providers were the
most used, and industry associations (including local tourism bodies, which are usually
partly government funded) and informal networks were significant sources. Firms
generally used more than one provider for each kind of service. In general, firms sought
their services locally. About one in five firms had had access to government grants,
mostly from state or local governments.
6
All of the case study firms demonstrated the importance of the initial innovative concept,
and most were the first of their kind in Australia. There was little radical product
innovation, but the firms changed their products and services subtly in response to
customer demands and external influences. Two firms were innovating by branching into
significantly new business areas, but these were in construction and information
technology rather than tourism. There was a wide range of behaviour with regard to
obtaining knowledge intensive services. Most ideas for innovation were generated within
the firm. Use of external services ranged from 26 per cent of those on the list to 75 per
cent of those on the list. Of those, half were specifically tailored for the firm, usually to
implement strategic plans designed within the firm. In many cases, firms would have
preferred to use in-house service providers but their small size meant that they could not
justify recruiting a specialist. Some recognised the value of an external service provider
who was at the cutting edge of their field.
Only one of the case study firms had formal links with a research institution, though
scientists and others conducted research at several of the locations, for example into
tropical rain forests. While most firms belonged to industry associations, they did not see
them as sources of inputs to innovation. They did, however, value the marketing services
provided by local tourism bodies. All were involved in informal local networks of
tourism industry operators. These provided important links and information on visitor
numbers, but not much in relation to innovation. Because the government’s industry
policies emphasise research and development and innovation, firms had not made much
use of generic industry programs.
Firms were conscious of the need to build on the expertise of external service providers.
In some cases the service remained in the form of a building design or a report. In others,
particularly marketing, firms outsourced some work such as translation but built the
capacity in-house as well. All relied heavily on customer feedback for ideas for
innovation – or in some cases to be told when not to make changes. Most had developed
their own standard operating procedures and recognised them as important for their
competitive edge, but in general they were not very conscious of the need to protect them
as intellectual property. In general, firms did not report any difficulty in finding external
service providers.
In conclusion, most of the knowledge intensive service activities in the tourism industries
are for routine management rather than for any conscious innovation. To a great extent
they are provided in-house, although external services are used for auditing and where the
business is not big enough to warrant the employment of specialists. Where radical
innovations required substantial inputs of KISA, in design, building, or environmental
expertise, firms looked externally. A recent review of the tourism industry resulted in the
creation of a new body which will have functions largely related to knowledge intensive
services. Tourism Australia will merge the skills and knowledge of the former Australian
Tourism Commission (marketing overseas), See Australia (domestic marketing), the
Bureau of Tourism Research and the Tourism Forecasting Council. It will provide
marketing, research and accreditation, and foster partnerships and build capabilities in
regions.
7
1. Innovation and the Importance of KISA 1
1.1 Introduction
The international research literature explores many dimensions of innovation and
innovative activity by firms. From an initial focus on product innovation alone, there is
now an understanding that innovation involves not only product development but also
new production methods and new organisational forms taken up by enterprises, and that it
can be radical or incremental. It has become clear that all these aspects of change
characterise innovative firms and influence competitive success.
It has also become clear that innovation, defined here as novel activities of economic
value to an enterprise, is a complex mix of factors and occurs differently in different
industries, in relation to different products, in firms of different ages and size and at
different stages of an industry or product cycle. Many of the processes involved in
innovation - the ways in which firms go about changing their products, processes,
markets, organisational shape and skill levels - are still not well understood.
It appears that the knowledge intensive service activities (KISA) carried out by firms are
an important input to innovation. As well as being a direct input to innovation, such
activities enable firms to develop knowledge based capabilities and skills. These may be
very important in the overall success of innovation. Policies designed to assist enterprises
to innovate need to rest on an understanding of these processes. A better understanding of
the ways in which knowledge intensive service activities contribute to innovative
activities in different industries may lead to more effective policy responses.
The present report is an element of a broader project which aims to improve
understanding of how firms in different industries use knowledge intensive services in
their innovation processes. It is part of a 10 country OECD research project that will
ultimately provide policy makers with analytical and empirical insights to underpin the
design and implementation of more effective industrial development strategies.
1.2 The KISA study

KISA are the knowledge-intensive service activities that firms undertake, usually in
conjunction with external or internal experts. They may be grouped according to their
purpose and function. One group of services has to do with the internal management of
the firm, for example accounting services, management consultancy, training, and
employment services. Another has to do with product development, and includes research
and development, technical consultancies, industry strategy advice, and marketing. A
third has to do with the firm’s behaviour as a legal entity, including legal advice,
compliance advice, and intellectual property consultancies.
1
For a fuller introduction to Knowledge Intensive Service Activities in the innovation system, see the
accompanying report on the software industry in Australia.
8
The Knowledge Intensive Service Activities (KISA) project, of which this report is a part,
is an attempt to shed light on the role of knowledge intensive service activities through
examining how they operate in a series of industries. Each study in the series comprises
statistical a description of the size and ‘shape’ of the industrial sector selected,
description of government policies and the programs available for firms in the sector, and
an empirical study of innovation at firm level.
Among the important questions to be addressed are: where the firm gets its knowledge
intensive services; which ones it chooses to develop in house and why; and how the firm
uses these services to build its own capability for continuing innovation.
The results of this analysis for the tourism industry in Australia are presented in this
report. It is intended to show tourism firms’ choices among providers of innovation
expertise, to report insights into the reasons for the choices made, and to indicate how
firms mix and match and internalise the knowledge-intensive services used.
9
2. Methodology for the Tourism Study
2.1 Introduction
This chapter summarises the evidence used in the study of KISA in innovation in the
Australian tourism industry.
The first element of the study of the tourism industry is an overview from secondary
sources. General data on the industry are presented in Chapter 3 of this report. A
description of government programs and policies directed to the sector makes up
Chapter 4.
An online survey is presented with simple statistical analysis and tabulation of the results.
These are reported in Chapter 5.
Case studies of six tourism firms were used to explore the issues in more depth. They are
reported in a separate chapter (Chapter 6).
Finally, in Chapter 7 some conclusions are drawn about the role of KISA in innovation in
the tourism industry.
Tourism was chosen for study partly for its importance in the Australian economy, but
also because its innovation system, unlike others which have been studied, does not focus
on technology; and as an industry it has some particularly interesting features.
Other studies of innovation, including the companions to this one – studies of the
software industry and the mining technology services industry – have tended to focus on
high technology firms, either its development in new industries or its application in more
established industries. There has also been a tendency to focus on businesses which
supply inputs to other businesses. This study of tourism is a departure, in that it is focused
on a long established industry which deals directly with its retail customers, and which,
although it uses new technology extensively, in general does not focus directly on
technology.
Tourism is interesting also because of the importance of the destination in the industry.
With the growth of new information technology, location might be expected to be less
important for access to knowledge intensive services. In tourism, success is determined
by providing an experience for the tourist that meets or exceeds their expectations. To
achieve this, the focus has to be on the destination and the activity.
2.2 The survey

The on-line survey was conducted using the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse, a
public website2 joint initiative of all states and territories that provides details of 13,000
companies. The small sample of firms surveyed was extracted from the categories
‘accommodation’, ‘transport’ and ‘tour operators’, as these categories form the bulk of
the industry. Companies were randomly contacted by phone from a sample of 137
2
http://www.atdw.com.au/home.asp
10
companies across all Australian states. The survey of firms also included the 2003
Australian Tourism Award winners. The survey was open for responses for three weeks.
There were 44 responses of which 46 per cent were returned by fax, 25 per cent by email,
and 18 per cent by mail; 11 per cent were collected over the phone. The survey
instrument is at Appendix A.
The survey questionnaire included questions concerning:
• Background data on firms such as size, turnover, business life-cycle;
• Information on innovation and the use of KISA related services;
• Importance of service providers for inputs to KISA;
• Use of government grants for KISA-related services.
The 44 firms comprised:
• 24 tour firms (55 per cent)
• 15 accommodation firms (34 per cent)
• 3 transport firms (7 per cent), and
• 2 retail firms (4 per cent).
Seven firms (16 per cent) had received national tourism awards in 2003. Surveyed firms
were located in every state of Australia.
Twenty-five of the 44 firms (57 per cent) had between 1 and 6 employee, while one firm
had 1,200 employees.
Most employees across all firms had secondary education (82 per cent) with only 6 firms
having employees with a higher degree such as a Masters or a Doctorate (see Table ).
This result is consistent with our statistical analysis of the industry.
Table 1: Educational qualifications (survey sample)

Education % Employees
Higher Degree 0.6
Degree 12.7
Secondary 82
Primary 4.3
Source: AEGIS Tourism survey (2004)
Sixty-four per cent of the surveyed companies had a mature business structure with more
than two years of operation. One firm was a starting business.
Table 2: Business structure

Structure No. of Firms % Firms
Starting business 1 2
New business 9 20
Mature business 28 64
Business in expansion 6 14
11
The average years of operation of firms was 12.6 years, with 18 per cent of firms having
been in operation for over 20 years (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Years in operation

Years in Operation
25%
20%
s
15%
%of firm
10%
5%
0%
No ans 1-2 yrs 3-5 yrs 6-10 yrs 10-20 >20
yrs years
Years

Twenty-nine firms (66 per cent) identified their average yearly turnover as less than
$500,000. Nine firms (20 per cent) identified average yearly turnover greater than $2
million (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Average turnover

Average yearly turnover as % of total respondants
70
60
% of total firms (44
50
40
30
20
10
0
Not answered < $500,000 Between $1mil - >$2mil
$2mil
$

The survey was analysed with simple statistics and tabulation of responses.
2.3 Case studies: the innovators

Names of potential tourism firms for in-depth study were provided by the Tourism
Division of the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources and obtained from
internet searches of firms which had won awards for tourism innovation. Some names
were also supplied by Green Globe 21, an industry group which accredits tourism firms
12
against criteria related to sustainability and ecological impact. Six firms were chosen to
provide a broad representation of the following characteristics:
• type of tourism business (accommodation, tourism attraction or travel
management);
• type of innovation (new product or service, management innovation, training and
staff innovation or use of equipment), following a typology developed by Koberg
et al, discussed below, which gives a broader dimension to the concept of
innovation as it applies to firms;
• size (small, medium, large); and
• age (range).
The tourism firms selected are listed in Table 3. Location was not used as a selection
factor.
Table 3: Characteristics of case study firms

Name Location Type of Firm(a) Size(b) Age
(Yrs)
Australian Outback Travel Group Victoria Tour operator Large 17
Banrock Station South Cafes and Small 10
Australia restaurants
Binna Burra Mountain Lodge Queensland Accommodation Medium 71
Goana Air Safaris Queensland Tour operator Small 10
Skyrail Queensland Other transport Medium 9
Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park Queensland Entertainment Medium 17
Services
(a) Following classification in Table 3.1 in Bureau of Tourism Research (1998): Tourism Business in
Australia – Occasional Paper 34
(b) In keeping with definitions used by the Bureau of Tourism Resources, micro businesses have four or
fewer employees, small businesses have between 5 and 19 employees and medium to large businesses have
20 or more employees.
Source: Thorburn, L.J., Sectoral Case Studies in Innovation
An interview guide was developed following a review of the methodologies and issues
covered by studies in partner countries. It uses some questions common to these studies.
It was framed to gather data about innovative activity within the business, focusing on the
generation and utilisation of knowledge, collecting a range of information about the
firms. The Australian interview guide was also structured to allow for the particular
circumstances of Australian firms and the Australian R&D support system.
2.5 Limitations of the study

There are limitations to the analysis presented in this report. First, the number of
respondents to the survey was not a statistically representative sample of the Australian
tourism industry. Second, the number of case studies was very small, and they were
chosen because of their innovativeness and are not representative of the whole industry;
13
so it is not possible to draw conclusions about innovation across the tourism industry as a
whole. Nevertheless the analysis of the firms participating in the study provides useful
information for understanding the role of KISA in Australian tourism firms.
14
3. The Tourism Industry in Australia: Statistical Overview
3.1 Definitions
The international system for defining and classifying industries and the local equivalent,
the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) does not
recognise tourism as a discrete ‘industry’ because ‘industries are classified according to
the goods and services they produce, whereas tourism depends on the status of the
consumer’ (ABS 2004: 3). For the purpose of separating the consumption of tourists from
non-tourists, tourism is defined as ‘activities of persons traveling to and staying in places
outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure,
business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from
within the place visited’ (ABS 2004: 48). This is adapted from the World Tourism
Organisation (WTO) definition of Tourism3.
To provide data on the economic contribution of tourist activity to the economy the
Australian Bureau of Statistics applies a classification system to identify the industries
supplying inputs to tourist activities and how these inputs are consumed (OECD 2000).
Each year from 1997-98 to 2002-03 data on the tourism industry has been presented in
‘satellite accounts’ to the standard national accounts. In the ABS Australian National
Accounts, tourism is defined according to these international standards to include visitors
‘whose primary purpose is private or government businesses, as well as more familiar
tourism for leisure purposes’ (ABS, 2003). It is therefore not only restricted to leisure
activity, but also includes travel for business and other reasons, for example education. If
the person stays longer than one year at a place, they are no longer regarded as a tourist.
3.2 Composition of the industry

Table and Table 5 depict the types of businesses in the tourism industry in Australia.
Table 4: Number of businesses in the tourism industry in Australia
ANZSIC Industry No of businesses Total businesses
Tourism characteristic industries
5 346
Travel agency and tour operator services
2 472
Taxi transport
2 168
Air and Water transport
990
Motor vehicle hiring
9 158
Accommodation
21 493
Cafes and restaurants
18 427
Takeaway food retailing
60 054
Total
ANZSIC Industry No of businesses Total businesses
3
Extracted from Organisation for Economic Development (OECD), Commission of the European
Communities, United Nations and World Tourism Organisation, (2001) Tourism Satellite Account:
Recommended Methodological Framework, OECD, United Nations Publications and World Tourism
Organizations, p. 1.
15
Tourism connected industries
Clubs, pubs, taverns and bars 10 018
Other road transport 27 883
Rail transport 1 806
Food and beverage manufacturing 5 061
Transport equipment and other manufacturing 58 312
Automotive fuel retailing 8 010
Other retail trade 132 156
Casinos and other gambling services 2 709
Libraries, museums and arts 5 715
Other entertainment services 15 474
Education 22 410
Ownership of dwellings 3 865
Total 293 419
Total tourism related businesses 353 473
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1998, ABS Business Register (unpublished data)
Table 5: Number of management units by employment size for tourism

ANZSIC industry Micro Small Medium to Total
businesses(a) businesses(b) large businesses
businesses(c)
Travel agency and tour operator services 3 100 848 123 4 071
Taxi transport 1 946 397 55 2 398
Air and water transport 1 183 393 123 1 699
Motor vehicle hiring 516 175 19 707
Accommodation 4 429 2 610 701 7 740
Cafes and restaurants 9 475 8 678 1 272 19 425
Takeaway food retailing 10 877 4 608 733 16 218
Total tourism characteristic 31 523 17 709 3 026 52 258
Clubs, pubs, taverns and bars 3 113 4 462 1 884 9 459
Other road transport 21 376 3 841 688 25 905
Rail transport 20 8 14 42
Food and beverage manufacturing 1 636 1 617 1 001 4 254
Transport equipment and other manufacturing 29 033 17 561 6 199 52 793
Automotive fuel retailing 3 402 3 147 294 6 843
Other retail trade 85 113 34 894 3 999 124 006
Casinos and other gambling services 1 662 699 50 2 411
Libraries, museums and arts 3 032 616 206 3 854
Other entertainment services 9 056 3 079 1 037 13 172
Education 5 776 3 070 1 469 10 315
Ownership of dwellings 3 131 243 53 3 427
Total tourism connected 166 350 73 237 16 894 256 481
Total tourism related 197 873 90 946 19 920 308 739
(a)Businesses employing four or less persons
(b)Businesses employing between 5 and 19 persons
(c)Businesses employing 20 or more persons
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics 1999, ABS Business Register (unpublished data)
16
Table 5 shows the number of management units according to business size. More than
half of the firms in tourism related businesses were micro businesses employing four or
less employees. About thirty per cent of firms were small businesses employing between
five and nineteen employees.
3.3 The economic contribution of the Industry

The Australian tourism industry has experienced strong growth over the past 20 years. In
2002-2003, the tourism industry contributed 4.2 per cent to Australia’s gross domestic
product.4 The demand for tourism goods and services comes predominantly from
domestic sources. In 2002-03 demand from Australian residents consumed 77 per cent of
tourism output, with international visitors consuming 23 per cent of output5.
Table 6: Tourism share of consumption (per cent)

1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03
Households 67.9 67.7 66.9 65.0 65.9 67.2
Business/Govt. 10.8 11.0 10.9 10.8 10.2 10.2
Domestic 78.7 78.7 77.8 75.8 76.2 77.4
International 21.3 21.3 22.2 24.2 23.8 22.6
Source: ABS 2004 (Table 2)
In 2002-03 Australia ran a small positive tourism services trade balance of $75 million as
measured by the difference between tourism consumption by Australian residents on
outbound trips and tourism consumption by non-residents on inbound trips.
The backbone of Australian tourism is domestic tourism, and it is a significant
contributor to regional Australia.
3.4 Employment
The tourism industry employed 540,700 persons in 2002-03, that is 5.7 per cent of total
employment.6 The majority of the jobs in the tourism industry are in retail trade, the
accommodation sector and cafés and restaurants. There are over 350,000 tourism related
businesses in Australia. Most businesses consist of small to medium sized businesses, and
90 percent of the businesses employ less than 20 staff.7 In 2001-2002 the tourism industry
stake of total employment decreased slightly to 5.9 per cent after remaining at 6 per cent
since 1997–98.8
Estimates of employment in tourism are derived by the ABS by assuming that
employment in each of the supplying industries is in proportion to the value added
supplied to the tourism industry (ABS 2004: 39). Tourism’s share of total employment
(5.7 per cent) is 50 per cent larger than the industry’s share of national gross value added
4
Extracted from ABS Cat. No. 5249.0, ‘Australian Tourism Satellite Account’, Fact Sheet, 2002-2003.
5
6
7
Australian Government Tourism White Paper, Department of Industry Tourism and Resources, 2003 p 12.
8
ABS (2003) Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account 2001-2002, 5249.0, p. 6.
17
(3.8 per cent) (Table 7). This implies that labour productivity, as measured by gross value
added per employee in the tourism industry, is lower than for the economy in general.
Table 7: Employed persons in tourism, 2002-03

Industry ‘000 Per cent of Total
Employment in
Tourism
Transport and storage 84.6 15.6
Accommodation., cafes & restaurants 175.3 32.4
Manufacturing 45.8 8.5
Retail trade 140.4 26.0
Cultural and recreational services 28.5 5.3
Education 24.6 4.5
Total identified industries 499.3 92.3
Other 41.5 7.7
Total tourist employment 540.7 100
Total employment 9441.4
Tourism share of total employment 5.7
Source: ABS 2004 (derived from Table 16 by aggregating disaggregated industry data)
The occupational structure of tourism is quite different from the occupational structure of
total employment in the economy. Tourism has less than half the proportion of
Professionals (9.1 per cent compared to 18.8 per cent) and over 40 per cent fewer
Managers and Administrators (7.2 per cent compared to 4.2 per cent). The higher
proportion of Associate Professionals in tourism largely reflects the fact that chefs are
classified to this occupational category and they work in tourism related industries.
Tourism’s share of Elementary Clerical, Sales & Service Workers is some 61 per cent
larger than for the economy as a whole.
Table 8: Occupational structure of total employment and tourist industry

Occupation as a
Occupation as a
Share of Total Employed
ASCO Share of Total
Employed Total Employment in Tourism
Major Tourism
Group (‘000) (%) (‘000) Employment
1 Managers & Administrators 680.9 7.2 21.4 4.2

2 Professionals 1762.7 18.8 46.5 9.1
3 Associate Professionals 1146.4 12.2 86.4 16.9
4 Tradespersons 1204.4 12.8 47.1 9.2
Advanced Clerical & Service
5 Workers 377.1 4.0 11.7 2.3
Intermediate Clerical, Sales &
6 Service Workers 1623.7 17.3 107.9 21.2
Intermediate Production &
7 Transport Workers 794.8 8.5 53.6 10.5
Elementary Clerical, Sales &
8 Service Workers 944.3 10.0 83.8 16.4
9 Labourers & Related Workers 862.4 9.2 52.0 10.2
Total 9396.7 100 510.4 100
Source: ABS 2004 (derived from Table 6) and ABS (2003)
18
Overall, tourism employs a smaller proportion of skilled workers than the economy as a
whole and a higher proportion of lesser skilled workers.
3.5 Tourism exports

Tourism contributes significantly to Australia's export earnings. Through the direct sale
of goods and services to international visitors, tourism export earnings in 2002-2003
totalled more than $16.6 billion. While tourism exports grew quite strongly between
1997–98 and 2000–01, so did exports of other goods and services. However both tourism
exports and total exports declined in 2001–02 (see Table 9).9 International visitors
consumption was $16.7 billion in 2002-03. This is 11.2 per cent of total exports. This is
the same share as in 1997-98, down from its peak share of 12.0 per cent in 1998-99.10
Table 9: Exports of tourism goods and services

1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03
International visitor 12 792 13 446 14 611 17 140 17 080 16 700
consumption ($m)
Total Export ($m) 113 744 112 025 126 034 153 511 152 357 NA
Tourism Share of Exports (%) 11.2 12.0 11.6 11.2 11.2 11.2
Growth in international visitor 5.1 8.7 17.3 -0.3 NA
consumption (%)
Growth in total exports (%) -1.5 12.5 21.8 -0.8 NA
Source: ABS (2003) Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account 2001-2002, 5249.0, p. 8
3.6 Tourism research and development

In 2000-01, R&D expenditure with tourism as an objective totalled $19.5 million, of
which business supplied $9.7 million; $8.7 million was supplied by universities and $1.1
million by government (DITR 2004: 30). This represented only 0.2 per cent of total
R&D expenditure in Australia (ABS 2002: Table 1). This is significantly less than
tourism’s share of GDP, which was 4.1 per cent in 2000-01.
This result reflects the low R&D intensity (ratio of R&D to value added) in the industries
which supply the bulk of tourism’s value added. For example, the innovation intensity of
Retail trade, Accommodation, cafes & restaurants and Transport and storage (as
measured on a composite index which includes among other variables expenditure on
R&D, training, and propensity to innovate) is quite low, and these industries supply
nearly two-thirds of tourism’s value added (Toner, Marceau, Hall and Considine, 2004).
As the survey and case studies confirm, innovation in tourism tends to be incremental,
based on customer feedback rather than formal R&D. It also tends to rely on the existing
skills of staff.
9
Extracted from ABS (2003) Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account 2001-2002, 5249.0, p. 8.
10
Extracted from ABS catalogue No. 5249.0, ‘Australian Tourism Satellite Account’, Fact Sheet, 2002-2003.
19
4. Government Policies and Programs for the Industry
Tourism industry policy is directed at the development of a sustainable, internationally
competitive and innovative tourism sector. Tourism provides a solid base for
employment and wealth creation, especially in regional Australia. Successive
governments have developed initiatives to support tourism including:
• the overseas promotion of Australia as a tourist destination by Tourism Australia
(formerly know as the Australian Tourist Commission);
• improving the competitiveness and diversity of regional attractions through
regional tourism programs;
• providing assistance to small and medium tourism exporters through the Export
Market Development Grants Scheme; and
• programs to encourage Australians to take more holidays domestically.
Direct public tourism related expenditure accounted for $148 million in 2002-03 (see
Table 10).
Table 10: Direct tourism related spending by Australian Government 2002-03

Activity $ million Agency
Australian Tourist Commission 100 Industry, Tourism and Resources
11
Export Market Development Grants 17 Austrade
Regional tourism projects 9 Industry, Tourism and Resources
See Australia 2 Industry, Tourism and Resources
Bureau of Tourism Research 2 Industry, Tourism and Resources
Cooperative Research Centre for 3 Education, Science and Training
Sustainable Tourism
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics
Conservation of Rural and Historic Hotels 4 Environment and Heritage
Tourism Policy 9 Industry, Tourism and Resources
Total (direct assistance to tourism) 148
Source: Tourism White Paper, p. 16.
The Australian Government recently allocated $235 million to boost the growth of the
tourism industry. The Tourism White Paper (DITR, 2003) provides the strategic
framework for the sector. The Tourism White Paper was prepared against the backdrop of
a difficult period brought about by international travel uncertainty following a series of
shocks.
As part of the Tourism White Paper, a new body has been created, Tourism Australia, a
merger of four earlier tourism organisations:
• the Australian Tourist Commission;
• See Australia;
11
The scheme supports a wide range of industry sectors and products, including inbound tourism and the
export of intellectual property and know-how outside Australia. In the 2002-03 financial year, $143.9
million was paid to 3843 businesses. For grants relating to the 2001-02 grant year, the average grant was
$36,280. Over two-thirds of businesses receiving EMDG reported annual income of $5 million or less.
Footnote extracted from http://www.austrade.gov.au [19.05.04]
20
• the Bureau of Tourism Research; and
• the Tourism Forecasting Council.
Tourism Australia aims to connect all the skills and knowledge of these organisations
under one umbrella to market a revitalised Brand Australia in key global markets and
leverage international and domestic promotion of Australia through strategic partnerships
with State and Territory marketing bodies and industry.
Tourism Australia will have a marketing coordination role to promote Brand Australia,
both globally and within Australia. Tourism Events Australia will provide assistance and
infrastructure to businesses and governments aiming to attract events to Australia.
Tourism Research Australia is to provide research services including industry wide data –
particularly at the regional level, assistance in identifying key niche markets, tourism
forecasting and yield maximisation strategies, etc.
At a sectoral level the strategic focus is on identifying those tourism markets that will lift
capacity. Part of capacity lifting involves benchmarking sound management practices that
are successful in meeting customer expectations and assisting other business to take up
similar practices. Here, a National Tourism Accreditation Framework is being developed
to improve professionalism and standards.
Tourism firms are eligible for assistance under a range of generic industry programs
offered by governments. However, the major theme of those programs is promoting
innovation as a source of competitive advantage and commercialising Australian
research. Most tourism firms do not meet the criteria for those programs.
While the responsibility for the implementation of the majority of the medium to long
term strategy for tourism rests with the Australian Government, all levels of government
and industry are responsible for repositioning the sector towards sustainable growth,
including by assuming joint responsibilities for the implementation of initiatives.
21
5. Findings from the Survey
5.1 Innovation and the use of KISA
Firms in the tourism industry survey reported that they are quite innovative in terms of
implementing product, process and organisational changes. Thirty-nine of the 44 firms
(89 per cent) had made significant changes: twenty-eight (64 per cent) had introduced a
new product, twenty-three (52 per cent) had implemented a new process and twenty-two
(50 per cent) had introduced a new way of doing something, for example, a new or
substantially changed accounting system or human resource management system.
Figure 3: Changes to products/services

Firms indicating change (% of total firms)
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
New Product New Process Other changes

The innovation in the firms surveyed was mostly incremental (a series of small or gradual
changes over time): twenty-nine of the 44 firms (66 per cent) described these innovations
as incremental while 27 percent of respondents (12 of 44) identified the change as radical.
Seven firms in the sample have received a 2003 Australian Tourism Award, and a higher
proportion of these seven firms regard their innovations as radical than non-award
winners (see Table 12).
Table 11: Firms with tourism awards and radical innovation

Companies Radical innovation % companies
(no. of companies)
Tourism awards 4 out of 7 57.1
No award 8 out of 37 21.6

Tourism firms face a twofold challenge that forces continuous innovation. On the one
hand fierce competition and a small product/service cycle force the introduction of
changes and the marketing of new products and services (Hollick 2003; Braun and
22
Hollick 2004). On the other hand an increasingly savvy consumer is forcing the industry
to rapidly adopt new technologies (Beeton and Graetz 2001; Bloch and Segev 1996).
In relation to the use of KISA for the development and introduction of innovations, the
most commonly used services were research and development (including market
research) (35), marketing and promotion (34), accounting and financial services (34) and
IT services (33). This is shown in Table 1.
Table 12: Use of KISA

KISA –related services Number of firms As a % of
using KISA total firms
1. Industry development advice 29 66
2. Business planning advice 25 57
3. Marketing and promotion 34 77
4. Research and product 35 80
development12
5. Accounting and finance 34 77
services
6. IT services 33 75
7. E-commerce services 23 52
8. Training services (e.g. TAFE ) 23 52
9. Recruitment 18 41
10. Accreditation 28 64
11. Customisation of wholesale 14 39
packages
12. Other 2 5
The survey provides no information about the type of R&D that these firms use but it is
likely that market research predominates, especially as the statistics on R&D show that
spending in the industry on formal R&D is low.
The use of information technology services was mentioned by 75 per cent of the firms,
and 52 per cent use in-house e-commerce services, suggesting that firms place a high
priority on competing in what is now an ICT driven sector (Braun & Hollick 2004). This
is surprising in the light of findings that tourism firms are slow to integrate ICT into their
business management systems or to use ICT that is any more sophisticated than email and
a basic website (Buhalis 2003; Braun 2004; Danielle and Mistilis 1999; Hollick 2003;
Jameson 2000).
Use of KISA varied with the stage in the life cycle of the firm. Starting businesses did not
use any knowledge intensive services very often. Mature businesses used knowledge
intensive services regularly, especially ICT services. Businesses in the expansion phase
used all the services listed in the survey but especially marketing and ICT. This
propensity of the firm to use more KISA as it matures is shown in Table 13.
12
Includes market research
23
Table 13: Frequent use of KISA by firm business cycle
KISA Starting New Mature Expansion
business business business business
1. Industry development advice
2. Business planning advice
3. Marketing and promotion
4. Research (incl market research)
and product development
5. Accounting and finance services
6. IT services
7. E-commerce services
8. Training services (e.g. TAFE )
9. Recruitment
10. Accreditation
11. Customisation of wholesale
packages
Source: AEGIS Tourism survey (2004) Note: Only frequent use is mapped
Table 13 supports previous findings on the lack of access to specialised services by
micro-firms due to resource constraints (Jameson, 2000), and on time and financial
constraints on small tourism firms’ engagement in training activities (Collins, Buhalis
and Peters, 2003). In the survey, only businesses in the expansion phase regularly
participated in training activities although intermittent activity is reported by 52 percent
of all participant firms (see Table 13 and Table 14).
Table14: Use of KISA-related services

Total number of
Daily Weekly Monthly Once or twice uses
1. Industry development
advice 2 7 7 13 29
2. Business planning
advice 2 6 4 13 25
3. Marketing and
promotion 7 8 13 6 34
4. Research (including
market research) and
product development 6 6 9 14 35
5. Accounting and
finance services 3 5 14 12 34
6. IT services 3 8 10 12 33
2 4 4 13 23
8. Training services (e.g.
TAFE, industry courses)
0 2 3 18 23
9. Recruitment 0 2 5 11 18
10. Accreditation 0 1 4 23 28
11. Customisation of
wholesale packages 3 3 5 6 17
12. Other 0 0 1 1 2
28 52 79 142 301
9% 17% 26% 47%
24
Twenty-eight of the 44 respondents (64 per cent) indicated that they spent less than
$10,000 on externally purchased KISA. Six firms spent between $50,000 and $100,000
on such activities, and two firms spent over $100,000. Six firms did not spend any money
on KISA.
Figure 4: Firm expenditure on KISA-related services

Expenditure on services by firm as % of total sample (44)
30
25
20
% 15
10
0
none <$3,000 <$10,000 <$20,000 <$50,000 <$100,000 >$100,000
$

The low expenditure on KISA-related services may indicate that tourism firms engage in
‘little formal skills and intelligence gathering’ as suggested by Braun and Hollick
(2004:4); or that most KISA are managed in-house or through informal non-commercial
networks. This latter pattern is similar to AEGIS research on KISA in the software sector
(Martinez-Fernandez et al, 2004), and would repay further investigation.
Companies which have won tourism awards have a higher frequency of expenditure on
services than non-award winners. Again, it would be useful to investigate the reasons.
Table 15: Expenditure on KIS by Tourism Award winners

Companies > AU$50,000 % companies
(no. of companies)
Tourism awards 4 out of 7 57
No award 3 out of 37 8.1
The size of the firm was not a significant factor in relation to expenditure on knowledge
intensive services by the firms surveyed, with those spending more than $50,000 on
KISA varying from between under 10 employees to more than 50 (see Table 16 below).
Table 16: >$50,000 Expenditure on KISA and size of the firm

No Employees No. of companies
<10 1
10-50 3
>50 4
25
5.2 Sources of KISA
In relation to the source of expert advice, Table 17 classifies the type of inputs to KISA
by the source that provides the service, and attempts to determine an average number of
sources for each service. The most important source of KISA was in-house delivery
which accounted for 32 per cent of all KISA. The next most significant source was the
private sector with 20 per cent and industry associations with 14 per cent. The least
significant sources were local government (5 per cent), the Australian Government (3 per
cent) and universities (2 per cent).
It is interesting to note that firms generally used more than one source for each kind of
service. On average firms obtained industry development advice from 2.42 sources, but
used only 1.33 providers for IT services – of which most are in-house or private sector
provision. Firms sought industry association services in a broad range of areas, especially
industry development advice, research and product development, marketing and
promotion, accreditation, and business planning advice. This is in contrast to the findings
in the KISA software survey, where industry associations were insignificant as a source
of KISA (Australian Government, 2004; Martinez-Fernandez et al, 2004), and reflects the
fact that industry associations here include local, government funded tourist bodies.
Table 17: Sources of KISA

KISA-related Services
Number of Avg Number
Local State Federal Universities Private Industry Informal % type of firms using of sources
In-house Government Government Government /CSIRO Sector Association networks Total total services per firm
1. Industry development
advice 13 7 10 1 2 10 15 12 70 13% 29 2.42
19 0 6 1 1 7 10 5 49 9% 25 1.96
22 4 7 3 0 13 13 11 73 13% 34 2.15
4. Research (including
market research) and
product development 18 9 11 6 1 6 14 16 81 15% 35 2.31
5. Accounting and finance
services 18 1 0 0 0 23 1 4 47 9% 34 1.38
6. IT services 15 0 1 1 0 22 0 5 44 8% 33 1.33
7. E-commerce services 12 0 2 0 1 13 1 5 34 6% 23 1.48
8. Training services (e.g.
TAFE, industry courses) 7 3 13 0 4 4 5 1 37 7% 23 1.61
9. Recruitment 23 0 0 1 1 4 2 3 34 6% 18 1.89
10. Accreditation 6 4 11 2 1 2 12 2 40 7% 28 1.43
11. Customisation of
wholesale packages 19 1 3 1 0 4 5 3 36 7% 17 2.12
12. Other 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1% 2 2.00
549 100%
Total 176 29 64 16 11 108 78 67 549
% source of total 32% 5% 12% 3% 2% 20% 14% 12%

The knowledge intensive service activity from the highest number of different sources
was research and product development (81 of 549 instances – 15 per cent), followed by
marketing and promotion and industry development advice (13 per cent each). This is
highlighted in Table 17.
26
Table 18: KISA: mix of sources
In-house Federal, Knowledge Industry Networks
KISA –related services State, or Intensive Association
local Business
Government Service
4. Research and product
development
6. IT services
9. Recruitment
10. Accreditation
packages
Source: AEGIS Tourism survey (2004) Note: Only the most frequent sources are shown.
Figure 5 shows that the most significant sources of expertise for KISA were in-house,
KIBS, industry associations and networks. This is similar to the pattern found in previous
KISA studies in the software sector pointing out the important role played by informal
networks in the co-production of knowledge (Australian Government, 2004; Martinez-
Fernandez et al 2004; Forssén et al, 2004; Broch and Isaksen, 2004), except that
(compared with the Australian software study) industry associations appear to replace
informal networks to some extent.
Figure 5: Provision of services

Where services were sought (all types)
35%
30%
25%
20%
%
15%
10%
5%
0%
tc
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27
Apart from the 31 per cent which were provided in-house, 30 per cent were found locally,
and 25 per cent were within the State. Few were provided on a national basis. This is
illustrated in Figure 6.
Figure 6: Location of KISA-related providers

Source of KISA by location
35%
30%
%of total service
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
In-house Local (in Regional (in National International
City) state)
Source

This evidence of local sourcing, which was even stronger in the Australian software
study, may support the importance of geographical proximity and the generation of
clusters and networks in strengthening the innovative system in which the firm operates
(Acs, 2002). Table 19 shows the most frequent location for provision of inputs to KISA.
For the surveyed firms, only R&D was sourced nationally.
Table 19: Preferred location for provision of KISA-related services

In-house Local Regional National International
KISA –related services (State)
4. Research and product
development
services
6. IT services
9. Recruitment
10. Accreditation
packages
28
5.3 Access to government grants
Eight of the 44 firms (18 per cent) had received government grants (seven from State
governments, four from the Australian Government and two from local government). As
can be seen in the following table these funds were used in five cases for marketing and
promotion, in four for training services and in three for research purposes – noting that
some grants were used for more than one purpose.
Figure 7: Inputs to KISA financed by Government grants
Firms using grant allocations to finance knowledge intensive services
6
Number of Firms
5
4
3
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4.
Type of service

Firms using public funding do not appear to have used them for e-commerce services.
This could be because Australian tourism firms are like those studied in other countries.
Research has found that tourism firms have limited access to expertise for extending their
distribution channels to the internet, which is the major transformer of the industry
(Bloch and Sebev 1996, Braun 2004, OECD, 2004).
A higher proportion of companies with tourism awards received government grants than
of those without, as is shown in Table 20.
Table 20: Tourism awards and government grants

Companies Awarded grants % companies
(no. of
companies)
Tourism Awards 3 out of 7 43
No Award 5 out of 37 13.5
29
The size of the firm appeared not to be relevant in obtaining government grants. Three
firms have less than 10 employees, three firms have between 10 and 50 and two firms
have more than 50 employees.
5.4 Summary of findings

The firms in the survey were mostly engaged in incremental innovation. They did not use
many external KISA, although this varied with the stage in the firm’s life cycle: mature
firms in an expansion phase used KISA regularly, whereas early stage businesses used
them very little. Cash outlays on services were low, partly reflecting the fact that in-house
services were the most commonly used.
When external KISA were obtained, they were mostly from the private sector, industry
associations, and informal networks. Frequently firms used more than one external
provider for a particular kind of service, and often used both internal and external
services for a single function.
There was little reliance on formal R&D; nor was there much use of government
provided services, but some firms had access to government grants.
There was a strong preference for locally provided services.
30
6. Key Findings from the Case Studies: The Innovators
6.1 Types of innovation
Measuring innovation by the introduction of new products and services onto the market
can produce useful inter-firm comparisons. But it does little to explain how firms manage
themselves internally to achieve change and ensure that it is sustainable.
The case studies presented here sought an understanding of what happens inside the firm
– in particular, how the firm organises itself to obtain knowledge and ideas, and put these
into practice in a way that adds to outcomes and productivity.
Where tourism businesses gain their initial competitive advantage from the location in
which they are found or the idea on which they are based, the initial idea is the ‘radical’
innovation that forms the basis of the business (Table 22).
Table 21: Radical innovations of tourism case studies

Case Study Key Idea
Australian Outback Travel Group Tour packaging and online bookings
Banrock Station Mixing wine tourism and ecotourism
Binna Burra Mountain Lodge Accommodation in national park
Goana Air Safaris Self-fly air tours
Skyrail Cable car over World Heritage rainforest
Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park Cultural experience based on Aboriginal culture
These six case studies all demonstrated the importance of the initial concept and most
were the first business of their kind in Australia (Binna Burra, for example, commenced
in 1933, and was one of the first eco-accommodation tourism businesses in Australia).
Tjapukai has changed the most over time – its original concept was an Aboriginal dance
troupe and it has since expanded into an Aboriginal cultural park offering a range of
experiences with the dance troupe still being the central attraction.
Overall the tourism firms were generally not changing their product and service mix
significantly and were focussing more on the softer side of innovation. They were
generally unaware of intellectual property (apart from trade marks) and the value of some
of their internal processes and operating procedures. While there were some examples of
firms branching into significantly new business areas, these business areas were not
tourism ventures but were in construction (Skyrail) and ICT (AOTG). This finding
illustrates the value of case study research, as a shift of focus of this nature is unlikely to
emerge in a survy.
31
Because tourism firms are constrained by the fact that their attractiveness to customers is
tied to a particular location, it may be difficult for them to identify more radical business
opportunities.
In a sense the absence of continuing radical change in their core product is also the
cornerstone of the firm’s success. Tjapukai is in the Guinness Book of Records for the
longest running (unchanged) theatrical performance in Australia; and Binna Burra’s basic
concept has been unchanged since its first set of wooden cabins was built (and indeed, the
site is World Heritage listed and these cabins cannot be altered architecturally under the
World Heritage guidelines). Even in the younger firms, the basic tenet has remained the
same.
Nevertheless these firms are still innovators in the way that they have changed their
products and services, sometimes subtly, in response to changing customer demands and
other external influences. A deeper understanding of how and why these changes occur in
innovative firms in relation to knowledge intensive service activities provides a better
understanding of the basis of innovation and how governments can encourage and
support it.
A useful framework for this analysis has been developed by Koberg:
‘… procedural (management-determined innovations in rules and procedures); personnel-
related (innovations in selection and training policies, and in human resource
management practices); process (new methods of production or manufacturing); and
structural (modifications to equipment and facilities and new ways in which work units
are structured) (Koberg et al. 2003: 24).
This definition breaks away from the usual focus of the innovation literature on minor
changes in outputs (products or services). It provides a framework for categorising those
internal processes within firms that lead to the changed products or services as perceived
by the consumer.
These concepts were used to structure the interview guide and focus the discussion during
the case study interviews.
Most of the firms provide a mix of products and services that exemplify the value-added
nature of many tourism offerings:
• Banrock, Binna Burra and Skyrail provide ranger-guided walks and other ways to
experience nature to visitors to their facilities.
• Goana tour guides accompany guests on their trips around Australia.
• Tjapukai opens its facilities at night as well as during the day.
• AOT Group offers tourists package tours as well as the ability to mix and match
individual accommodation purchases and has moved into sports and entertainment
packages.
The case studies highlight incremental change in the four areas identified by Koberg et al
(Table 22).
32
Table 22: Incremental Innovation in Tourism Case Studies
Name Product/ service Procedural Personnel related Structural
Australian Sports and Pilot testing of Staff suggestion Use of XML for
Outback entertainment paperless office system linked with online content; IT
Travel Group packages, sale of management division in
online content meetings company
Banrock Feral proof fence Expectation of input Build capacity of Restructuring

Station and mammal from professional all staff including management as
reintroduction staff casuals company grows;
wetlands
construction
Binna Burra Playground and Role of Board Success kit, Eco-friendly

Mountain games design; CD induction program water and asset
Lodge of virtual walks and environment management
awareness
Goana Air Revised tour book Role of tour directors Appointment of IT Upgrading GPS
Safaris and on-ground in customer feedback staff member in aircraft
itineraries
Skyrail Cable New guided New firm specialising Structured training Retrofitting of
Car interpretative in attraction for all staff cableway
walks management
Tjapukai Tjapukai at Night Quality circle for Mystery shopper Departments

Aboriginal managing response to for quality feedback formed as
Cultural Park customer feedback company has
grown
6.2 Use of external KISA

Although the services that firms were asked about were all ‘knowledge intensive’, during
interviews differences in the type of service delivery were identified. The rest of this
section uses the following definitions for the three types of service level:
• Compliance, where firms use external service providers to ensure that they comply
with regulatory or taxation regimes – in Australia, this usually relates to:
- completion by accountants of annual company tax returns and monthly or
quarterly Business Activity Statements related to the Goods and Services Tax;
- advice from lawyers regarding corporate governance and the corporations law;
and
- auditing and accreditation of quality management systems by quality consultants.
33
• Routine, where standardised services are purchased for routine matters – these
included some types of market research (for example, purchase of reports on
markets), legal services (review of standard contracts), sales (relationships with ITOs
or resellers), IT (maintenance of computer systems and networks) and accreditation
(quality assessors for ISO accreditation).
• Tailored, where the service was modified to suit the needs of the client. For example,
tailored surveys of customers, design of new equipment or installations that are one-
off in nature and legal advice on specialised contracts.
Use of external knowledge intensive services varied widely among the case study firms
(Table 23). Firms outsourced from 26 to 75 per cent of the knowledge intensive services
on the list. There was a large range of percentages of external services considered of high
importance (meaning that there was no equivalent skill inside the firm), ranging from
none to 57 per cent of the external services. Of the services outsourced, the range of
services that were tailored for the firm varied from nil to 85 per cent.
In many cases, firms would have preferred to use in-house service providers but their
small size meant that they could not justify recruiting a specialist. Some recognised the
value of an external service provider who was at the cutting edge of their field and could
provide high level one-off project support when required – the view was that if such
people were employed full time within a firm they would lose their leadership in a field
and would find day to day work within a single tourism firm insufficiently challenging.
Nevertheless, in all but two firms, ‘tailored’ knowledge-intensive services were reported
in at least half the outsourced services. In many cases, these services were brought in to
implement particular strategic plans developed by the company but not able to be
implemented by employees. Examples of such practices include:
• Banrock’s external engineering works and interpretive signage for nature trails.
• Tjapukai’s IT system and translation of brochures into 8 other languages.
• Skyrail’s construction works and interpretive material for interpretive stations.
• Binna Burra’s playground and games design.
In these cases the client may not need to acquire the skills (tacit knowledge) used by the
service provider because the consultant is either providing the skill to create a physical
installation that remains behind, or leaves a report or text which embodies their
knowledge in a way that the client can use.
In other cases, however, there is a need for the tacit knowledge to be transferred. This is
most evident in training where the service provider aims to transfer enough information
for the staff to use the skills gained in-house. This is achieved by both verbal transfer of
information (during training courses) and written transfer (through course notes and
manuals). Some firms, such as Goana, had formed close relationships with selected
service providers and these people contributed to the firm in the same manner as someone
on staff.
34
Table 23: Use of external services by tourism case studies
AOTG Banrock Binna Goana Skyrail Tjapukai
Burra
Planning
Legal routine routine TAILORED TAILORED COMPLIANCE
Acctg/Financial routine compliance TAILORED COMPLIANCE compliance
Capital Raising N/A N/A N/A
Tech awareness tailored tailored tailored
Tech trends tailored
Formal R&D routine N/A N/A N/A tailored N/A
Market research TAILORED tailored routine
Product devt tailored tailored
Project manag't
Operations
Marketing tailored routine TAILORED tailored tailored
Sales routine routine ROUTINE tailored
Export strategy N/A N/A tailored routine
Establishing o/s tailored N/A N/A N/A TAILORED N/A
offices
Benchmarking TAILORED
IT/Networking routine TAILORED ROUTINE TAILORED
Recruitment Routine
Accreditation routine routine tailored compliance routine
Standards Tailored
Training routine tailored tailored Tailored tailored tailored
Total Outsourced 7 5 8 7 15 10
% Outsourced 33% 26% 47% 41% 75% 52%
Of these:
% High 0% 20% 0% 57% 40% 20%
% tailored 14% 80% 0% 85% 73% 50%
Notes: Words in CAPITALS indicate outsourcing was of high importance; words in lower case indicate
outsourcing of medium importance; blanks indicate no outsourcing. N/A indicates not relevant to that firm
There are cases where knowledge could be transferred from service providers to client
firms, but is not. This might be because the skill offered by the service provider cannot be
transferred without a great deal of cost or effort (for example, Tjapukai’s use of a
specialist Japanese marketing firm).
35
6.3 Sources of KISA
6.3.1 Role of R&D institutions

The survey suggested that tourism firms do not engage much in formal R&D, and that
was confirmed in the case studies. Only one firm had formal links with R&D institutions
– Skyrail was working with both the Co-operative Research Centre for Tourism and the
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation to help develop
interpretive signage and deal with longer term issues relating to ecotourism. Banrock had
commissioned a private sector naturalist for its interpretative signage.
Tourism firms saw themselves largely as locations where other people came to perform
R&D and there were few mechanisms in place to develop those relationships beyond
providing access to natural sites (for example, rainforest) which provided an opportunity
for ecology and other students to work. Binna Burra had the most extensive set of
relationships of this type, but still played a passive role, being happy with an informal
association whose payoff was occasional talks to guests by visiting researchers.
6.3.2 Role of industry associations

Most of the case study firms belong to associations that will help them lobby government
on regulatory issues and also belong to associations that will bring them closer to
customers. Broadly speaking the role of industry associations in innovation is minor in
the case study firms. The services they get from them do not contribute significantly to
innovation, but they do contribute to marketing to free and independent travellers as they
are heavily linked into the tourism industry itself. Some are operated by governments –
for example Tropical Tourism North Queensland is run by the Queensland State
Government, and the Riverland Tourism Association is run by the South Australian
Government.
6.3.3 Role of informal networks

All tourism case study firms were involved in local networks of tourism industry
operators. While these provided important links through to customers and alerted them of
trends in visitor numbers, they provided little in relation to innovation.
The important innovation networks reached outside the local area in which the firm
operated. These networks were national or international, rather than local, and were often
of like-minded business people running companies within the industry. Companies such
as Tjapukai and AOT Group had networks at a national level. Entering (and winning)
national award competitions often provided access to new networks and raised the status
of the firm so that others paid attention.
The companies’ boards of management sometimes offered access to these networks. For
example Binna Burra’s Board has links to non-tourism organisations which are a source
of ideas. The same is true for Skyrail (a group of companies involved in a range of
ventures) and Banrock (owned by Hardy Wines). Goana has developed similar networks
by attending annual trade shows in the US.
36
6.3.4 Role of government
These firms do not do formal R&D and hence cannot access the majority of government
programs. Firms have not used COMET, one of the Federal Government’s important
programs for early stage businesses, because, while it provides support for business
planning, market research and training, it is perceived as focusing on commercialisation
of technologies rather than services.
Many tourism firms have obtained support from State Departments of Tourism, which are
keen to support firms that are growing or exporting. Some of these firms have also
accessed Austrade services. In the main, however, Austrade services are aimed at
identifying customers rather than supporting innovation.
There is some use of government-produced tourism statistics but those that use them
often find that they are not either timely enough or specific enough to support business
decision-making.
This supports feedback received during consultations with industry through the Tourism
White Paper process that revealed both a lack of awareness of the data available and a
low level of understanding as to how the data may be used to further business objectives.
To address this issue, Tourism Research Australia will develop an information
dissemination strategy and also establish a Tourism Statistics Regional Advisory Service
to assist businesses and regions with the use of data and research.
Various Government regulations can have a major impact on innovation. Goana made a
commercial decision not to introduce a new product into the market because of the
expected time required for government approval and the resulting impact on costs. The
environment protection regulations operating in all jurisdictions also must be complied
with but most firms accept this and several (for example Banrock, Skyrail and
Binna Burra) have extra standing in the sector for exceeding the minimum requirements.
6.4 Firm capabilities
6.4.1 Learning by firms

6.4.1.1 Marketing
A number of companies put a large amount of effort into marketing to Inbound Tour
Operators (ITOs). This was particularly the case for Tjapukai and Skyrail, both of which
attracted more than three quarters of their customers from overseas. These medium to
large companies used their own staff to visit ITOs in Australia and the outbound tourism
operators in key markets (who compile packages for tourists intending to visit Australia)
and provide them with promotional material. Binna Burra, a smaller company which still
has a significant overseas-based international clientele, relies on the annual Inbound
Tourism Operators conferences, organised by Tourism Australia, to meet the ITOs and
provide them with information (and perhaps encourage them to visit to see for
themselves). ATO Group relies largely on its website and its dominant position in
content development to ensure that it reaches potential customers.
Goana Air Safaris also has a large proportion of its clients from overseas. It, however, is
targeting people who already have pilots’ licences and this means that ITOs are not an
37
effective mechanism for marketing. Instead, it markets direct through newsletters relevant
to its clients (aircraft owners magazines and nature magazines) in key countries.
These marketing strategies have been developed over time and are largely supported in-
house. Firms will outsource the production of marketing and interpretive material in
languages other than English (Tjapukai) or containing technical information (Banrock
and Skyrail re nature interpretation). Tjapukai has also decided to retain a specialist
Japanese marketing company to promote its offering to inbound Japanese tourists, as this
market is highly specialised and the company does not have the resources to recruit its
own Japanese market specialist. AOT Group has made a strategic decision not to target
the Japanese market because of the level of specialisation required.
6.4.1.2 Customer Feedback
All case study firms had processes in place to obtain feedback from customers. In some
cases this was formal (for example visitors’ books and information on registration forms)
but most firms also had ways to capture informal comments – often through staff having
casual conversations with guests. All firms also had processes in place to use this
feedback to make incremental changes to their product and service offerings. This
feedback also told firms when not to make changes (this was particularly notable at Binna
Burra whose clientele values the consistency of service and experience delivered over
many years).
6.4.1.3 Quality Systems, Customer Service and Intellectual Property
All firms had quality systems or standard procedures in place for example:
• Skyrail is ISO9001 certified.
• Skyrail and Binna Burra are Green Globe 21 certified.
• Tjapukai runs a quality circle system.
• Banrock complies with HACCP.
• Goana complies with CASA risk and quality management systems.
• AOT Group has standard operating systems that have evolved over time.
Most firms had developed their own standard operating procedures, drawing on past
experience and the requirements of the various standards with which they want to
comply. These systems were recognised as a valuable part of firms’ capacity to service
clients, manage risk and ensure that customers received an experience of a high standard.
Some, notably Tjapukai and Skyrail, also recognised that these standard operating
procedures formed a component of the firm’s intellectual property. AOT Group had also
recognised that its content database (lists of accommodation and details of features and
prices) was valuable and had diversified its business by providing this content to other
tourism companies. These three firms recognised that they could sell their expertise to
others and were actively expanding their business by capitalising on this body of
knowledge. Skyrail in particular has a strategy to prevent loss of knowhow by only
bidding for projects where it can also enter into a long term contract for operations so that
the knowledge remains in house.
While tourism firms were aware of the value of their trademark, few also recognised the
value of their standard operating procedures. There is potential for firms to use this tacit
38
knowledge to deliver consulting or operational services to others – of particular interest
when it is difficult to replicate the other key component of attractiveness, location. Some
case study firms were aware that they might give away their tacit knowledge by giving
presentations to visiting delegations (often to people from overseas). This needs to be
managed to ensure Australian companies benefit from the opportunity to meet with
delegations.
6.4.1.4 Staff
Many tourism firms rely on staff employed as casuals. These people may have relatively
low educational qualifications and may not stay with a company for very long. In several
case study firms it was only the management staff who had specified roles in obtaining
feedback from customers and suggesting change. Two firms, Tjapukai and Banrock, had
made changes to their internal systems to try to encourage lower level staff to participate
more actively in contributing to change and incremental improvements.
6.4.2 Knowledge management

The reasons for outsourcing knowledge intensive service activities varied and included:
• The need to access particular skills not available in-house on a one-off basis (for
example Binna Burra commissioned a playground designer to develop a children’s
play area and activities).
• The need to access complementary skills on a longer term basis (for example in
awareness of new technologies).
• The need to obtain greater objectivity (for example customer service assessment and
accreditation/quality auditing).
• The need to ensure staff viewed the service provider as an expert (for example,
training services).
In most cases the case study firms retained the knowledge imparted by the service
provider in the form of a design or construction (for example, Banrock’s wetland
engineering works) or a report or record (for example, Tjapukai’s foreign-language
brochures). Where it was important for staff to absorb the learning then external service
providers provided notes or trained staff direct, or there were feedback systems in place
(for example, the quality circles in Tjapukai).
Most firms said that they would prefer to employ expert staff in some of these jobs but
they could not justify the expenditure in a small firm when the need for the service
fluctuated and they wanted to obtain people who had a knowledge of the wider industry
and best practice (which might be difficult to maintain once someone was working full
time for a single company).
6.5 Conclusion
The total amount spent on external knowledge intensive services by the case study firms
was a small part of their turnover but the value obtained from them was often significant
in the development of the company. Overall, the reasons cited by the case study firms for
using external KISA centred on the need to obtain special expertise or to have someone
39
‘at arm’s length’ for reasons of compliance (auditing) or for objectivity (training,
customer service assessment).
By grouping the firms and plotting various characteristics of service usage against age
and size it was found that the main correlation with use of outsourced services was the
number of staff in the firm. Younger firms were smaller, and have a higher use of tailored
services.
The tourism firms appear to be using knowledge intensive services to implement capital
expenditure decisions and to develop facilities. These did not affect their innovation
capability long-term and were more in the role of implementation of ideas that had been
generated from within the organisation. Change management in this context related more
to the need to train staff after the new facility or equipment was in place.
In general the tourism firms did not report any difficulty in finding external providers of
KISA once they had made the decision to use them. These providers were available
locally or in the nearest large city (for example, trainers, lawyers).
40
7. Conclusion
7.1 Awareness of KISA
Tourism firms are not consciously innovative, in the way that, say, firms in the
information and communications technology industry are. The firms in this study –
especially the case studies – have a low level of R&D, especially when it is noted that
much of the R&D that is reported is market research.
Many tourist operations are, however, based on a major innovation, and in general the
firms are conscious of the need for continuous improvements to their operations – that is,
they are incremental innovators. To a great extent they monitor their customer feedback
for ideas for change, and for quality control. In some cases their appeal rests on their
staying – or giving the illusion of staying – the same; in others, there is strong pressure to
keep up with the latest fashions. In any case, marketing is a very important service input
for an industry which is defined by its customers.
Tourism is itself a service industry, and the tourism firms understand their needs for
KISA and the need to build capabilities through them better, perhaps, than in other
industries. Most of the knowledge intensive service activities used in the tourism industry
are for routine management: accounting, personnel management, and IT services. To a
great extent these are provided in-house, although external services are used for auditing
and where the business is not big enough to warrant the employment of specialists.
Many of the radical innovations required substantial inputs of KISA, in design, building,
or environmental expertise. Most firms looked externally for these services, because the
frequency of use did not warrant employing specialists, or because they found that an
outsider with a fresh eye would contribute something different.
7.2 Sources and Availability of KISA

In some cases the decision to produce in-house or look externally was driven by costs:
sometimes the expense of recruiting an expert meant the service was outsourced, but
sometimes the expense of hiring a consultant meant that the firm made do with in-house
expertise. Generally firms had no trouble finding the services they need.
Local tourism authorities often played a key role in supplying services. These bodies
were often funded by State and local governments, and performed the functions of a
network co-ordinator as well as marketing and providing business advice. Often the
industry associations were active in these authorities, or co-operated with them. KIBS
were correspondingly less important than in other industries.
The relationships between tourism firms and universities were much weaker than in
technologically innovative industries, although they had a role in eco-tourism and there
was often co-operation which allowed students to do field work in tourist areas.
41
7.3 Policy Implications
A review of the tourism industry in Australia was undertaken as part of the development
of the Tourism White Paper. Extensive consultation with industry sectors and interest
groups fed into this process. The White Paper was subsequently released in November
2003 with an additional $235 million being put towards the tourism industry. A
significant change was the creation of a new body - Tourism Australia – that brings
together the Australian Tourism Commission, See Australia, the Bureau of Tourism
Research and the Tourism Forecasting Council.
Through the White Paper a range of actions will be undertaken to ensure the continued
development of a sustainable and robust Australian tourism industry.
Building Australia’s Reputation – both internationally and domestically through
Tourism Australia;
Enhancing Research and Statistics – that are robust, timely, targeted and
disseminated to industry and governments;
Encouraging Sustainability – of Australia’s unique natural and cultural
environment;
Lifting Capability – of tourism businesses, including the development of a
National Tourism Accreditation System;
Improving Access – to potential benefits from tourism for Australia’s regions; and
Increasing Collaboration – through governments at all levels working together.
All of these actions can be seen as contributions to KISA. However, they are in a context
where firms report that Australian Government policies and programs are not critical.
Firms turn, instead, to their local tourism authorities, which combine government
subsidies with many of the functions of an industry association.
One area where the Australian Government might have a greater role is with the COMET
program, which provides support for early stage business planning, market research and
training. Tourism firms may perceive it to be irrelevant to them because they interpret
‘technology’ in a particular way. Further investigation of the low application rate by
tourism firms is warranted.
A difference emerged between the survey and the case studies regarding the correlation
of use of KISA and the age of the firm. It would be interesting to investigate this, and if
necessary the Government could intervene to raise awareness of the need for knowledge
intensive services and continuing development of capabilities at all stages.
Finally, it would be interesting to do further study on non-innovative firms to see if their
failure to innovate is connected with difficulty getting access to the necessary KISA.
42
References
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ABS (2004) Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account, Cat No. 5249.0, Canberra:
Australian Bureau of Statistics.
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5249.0, Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics.
ABS (2003) The Labour Force Australia, August 2003, Cat. No. 6201.0, Canberra: Australian
Bureau of Statistics.
ABS (2002) Year Book Australia 2002, International Inbound Tourism – Characteristics
www.abs.gov.au [19.05.04]
ABS (2002) Research and Experimental Development. All Sector Summary, Cat No. 8112.0,
Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Australian Government (2004) Knowledge Intensive Service Activities in the Software Industry
Department of Industry Tourism and Resources Canberra
Beeton, S. & Graetz, B. (2001) ‘Small business – small minded? Training attitudes and needs of
the tourism and hospitality industry’. International Journal of Tourism Research, 1: 105-113.
Bloch, M. & Segev, A. (1996) The Impact of Electronic Commerce on the Travel Industry.
Retrieved May 8, 2-2, from www.has.berkeley.edu
Braun, P. (2004) ‘Regional Innovation and Tourism Networks: the nexus between ICT diffusion
and change in Australia’. Information Technology & Tourism, 5 (1): 13-24.
Braun, P. and Hollick, M. (2004) ‘Sharing Tourism Knowledge: Regional Capacity Building
Through Online Skills Delivery’. Paper presented at The Regional Science Association
International Australia and New Zealand ANZRSAI Conference, Wollongong, Sept. 28-Oct.
Broch, M. and Isaksen, A. (2004) Knowledge Intensive Service Activities in the Norwegian
Software Industry. Part project report from the OECD KISA study
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/32/22/29965961.pdf
Buhalis, D. (2003) E-Tourism: Information Technology for Strategic Tourism Management.
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Collins, C., Buhalis, D. and Peters, M. (2003) Enhancing SMTEs’ business performance through
the Internet and e-learning platforms. Education + Training, 45 (8/9: 483-495.
Danielle, R. & Mistilis, N. (1999) ‘Information technology and tourism education in Australia:
an industry view of skills and qualities required in graduates’. In. D. Buhalis and W. Schertler
(Eds.), International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism
1999 (pp. 140-150). Innsbruck, Austria: Springer Verlag.
DITR (2004) Australia’s Tourism Facts and Figures at a Glance, Canberra: Department of
Industry Tourism and Resources.
DITR (2003) Tourism White Paper: A Medium to Long Term Strategy for Tourism. Canberra:
Department of Industry Tourism and Resources.
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Forssén, M., Hietala, J., Hanninen, O. and Kontio, J. (2004) Knowledge-Intensive Service
Activities Facilitating Innovation in the Software Industry. Final Report of the KISA SWC
Finland Project http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/7/45/33696594.pdf
Hollick, M. (2003) ‘No barriers to failure: rethinking tourism business entry’. Paper presented at
the Council for Australian University Tourism and Hospitality Education (CAUTHE)
Conference, Coffs Harbour, February 5-8.
Koberg, C., Detiennde, D. and Heppard, K. (2003) ‘An empirical test of environmental,
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Jameson, S.M. (2000) ‘Recruitment and Training in Small Firms’. Journal of European Industrial
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Martinez-Fernandez, C., Soosay, C., Bjorkli, M. and Tremayne, K. (2004) ‘Are Knowledge-
Intensive Service Activities Enablers of Innovation Processes? - A Study of Australian
Software Firms’. Paper presented at the CINET Conference, 22nd-24th of Sept. Sydney.
Thorburn, L.J. (2004) ‘Sectoral Case Studies in Innovation: Knowledge Intensive Service
Activities (KISA)’ (unpublished) Canberra: Department of Industry Tourism and Resources.
Toner, P., Marceau J., Hall, R.. and Considine, G. (2004) Innovation Agents: VET Skills in the
Present and Future Australian Innovation System, National Centre for Vocational Education
Research, Adelaide.
44
Attachment 1: Survey Instrument
Questionnaire protocol for Knowledge Intensive Service Activities in the Tourism

industry13
Question 1. How many persons are employed by your firm/organisation?

• In house: _________________________
• Full Time: _________________________
• Part Time: _________________________
• As contractors: _________________________
Question 2. What qualifications do your employees have? (approximate %)

% with Masters/PhD: ___________
% with college degrees/ diploma: ___________
% with secondary education: ___________
% with primary education : ___________
Question 3. Which of the following options would best describe your business?
Starting business (less than 6 months)
New business (between 6 months and 2 years)
Mature business (more than 2 years)
Business in expansion (More complex structure,
diversified markets, decentralisation)
Question 4. How long has your business been in operation? _____________years
Question 5. What is your average yearly turnover/sales?
Less than AU$500, 000
Between A$500,000 and A$1 mil
Between A$1 mil – A$2 mil
More than A$2 mil
13
This survey was developed in joint collaboration with the Department of Industry, Tourism and
Resources.
45
Question 6. Has your firm made changes in the last year in terms of introducing
Yes No
A new product/service (or a substantially changed product/service)
A new way of producing an existing product/service
Changes to the way your firm does things such as a new or
substantially changed accounting system or human resource
management system
Question 7. Would you consider these changes to be

Incremental (series of gradual or small changes over time)
Radical (a one time big change)
Question 8. How often did you use the following services to develop and introduce these
changes?
Once or twice
Monthly
Weekly
Daily
KISA-related Services None

4. Research (including market research) and product

development
6. IT services
8. Training services (e.g. TAFE, industry courses)
9. Recruitment
10. Accreditation
11. Customisation of wholesale packages
12. Other
Question 9. What has been your expenditure on the services (see Question 8) over the last year?
None
Less than A$3,000
Less than A$10,000
Less than A$20,000
Less than A$50,000
Less than A$100,000
More than A$100,000
46
Question 10. Where did you obtain these services?
Private Sector Businesses

Universities /CSIRO, etc
Informal networks (eg

Industry Associations
customers, suppliers,
Federal Government
Local Government
State Government
competitors)
In-house
4. Research (including market
research) and product
development

services
6. IT services
8. Training services (e.g. TAFE,

industry courses)
9. Recruitment
10. Accreditation

packages
12. Other
Question 11. Please indicate the importance of these different service providers
Small importance
High importance
Not relevant
importance
Medium
In-house providers
Local government
State government
Federal government
Universities, CSIRO, etc
Private sector businesses
Industry Associations
Informal networks (eg customers, suppliers,

competitors)
47
Question 12. Where were the services providers located for your innovative activities?
Regional (within the state)

Local (within your City)
International
In-house
National

development
6. IT services
9. Recruitment
10. Accreditation
12. Other
Question 13. Has your organisation received grants from the following:
Yes
No
Federal government
State government
Local government
48
Question 14. Have these grants been used to finance the use of the following knowledge
intensive services?
Yes
No

development
6. IT services
9. Recruitment
10. Accreditation
12. Other
49
Attachment 2: Interview Guide
BACKGROUND
This is an interview guide which contains some set questions and some starting points for
discussion of issues. The depth of discussion on the issues raised in the guide will depend to some
extent on the company that is being surveyed. However, during the interview it is expected that
the majority of factual questions will be answered. The first section of the guide seeks answers to
factual questions about the company while the next section analyses use of KIBS in a range of
areas within the firm.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE FIRM (MOSTLY

OBTAINED PRE-INTERVIEW)
1. Date firm established/registered

2. Ownership (name of parent)
3. Location of owner
4. No. staff (FTE)
6. Describe the most recent product/service launched in the past 2 years
______________________________________________________________________
7. Describe any management-determined changes in rules/procedures or business
processes intended to improve production systems or service delivery in the past 2 years?
______________________________________________________________________
8. Describe and changes in selection and training policies or HR management practices
intended to improve production systems or service delivery in the past 2 years?
______________________________________________________________________
9. Describe any modifications to equipment/facilities or work units which have been
intended to improve production/service delivery in the past 2 years
______________________________________________________________________
In general, what barriers were faced in implementing these changes?
______________________________________________________________________
10. What is the firm’s primary competitive strategy? (for example...)
a) Introduce new products/services ahead of competitors
b) Offer higher quality products/services than competitors
c) Offer customised products/services for customers
d) Offer quick service/turn-around
e) Offer lower prices on comparable products/services cf competitors
f) Stick to a small market were there is little competition
g) Other
50
USE OF KNOWLEDGE INTENSIVE BUSINESS SERVICES
11. From where does the firm obtain its services on each of the following items?
(Identify High medium and low importance, or N/A)
Activity External R&D Other In- Board Is service tailored,

firm Instn Extnl orgn house routine, compliance
(F/I)** (staff) or other?
Business planning
Legal services
Acctg/Financial services
Capital Raising
Technology awareness
Technology trends
Formal R&D
Market research
Product/service
development services
Project management
Outsourced operations
Marketing/promotion*
Sales & distribution
Export strategy
Establishing offices
overseas
Performance
benchmarking
Networking services
Recruitment services
Accreditation/quality
management
Standards
Training services
* incl. e-commerce
** incl. government organisations such as business enterprise centres, government grants
For each of those above that are outsourced (KIBS, R&D, other), why is this? Discuss
Impediments to use of outside providers
Importance of outsourced providers
Impact of external providers on learning
Types of providers
Impact on innovation capacity
Impact on innovation performance
Is the service simply outsourced or is it a collaborative arrangement?
How is the knowledge shared?
51
DRIVERS FOR INNOVATION
12. How frequently do you need to bring out new products/services? What determines
the timing?
13. What are the main drivers for innovation (for example, customers, suppliers, new
regulations, competitors, staff, management...)
14. Of those listed in Q12, which is the most sophisticated innovation driver and what
demands does it make on the firm?
15. If the main innovation driver is within the firm, what is the reason for this?
16. Describe the main customer base for the firm (e.g. large number of end-consumers,
mix of firms and consumers, small number of government clients)
17. What proportion of your customers are
a) From your local region?
b) From other areas within your State?
c) From other areas of Australia?
d) From overseas?
18. Do customers from different regions have different needs/characteristics which
require you to modify your products/services for these groups? (if yes, how to you
meet this challenge)?
19. What other stakeholders do you need to work with (or at least be aware of) to ensure
your business is successful? (e.g. govt for regulatory issues)
20. What is the balance of small (incremental) and step-change (radical) innovations in
the firm?
21. Have small (minor) business changes led to significant competitive advantages over
competitors? (if yes, expand)
KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION
22. What continuing arrangements or procedures are there for seeking new ideas or
business improvement information from external sources?
23. How does the firm develop a balance between choosing to acquire new technologies
to support innovation and choosing to introduce new management practices or
training to support innovation?
24. How has the firm structured itself to be able to respond to external opportunities?
25. What is the balance (by value) of all services sourced from outside the firm vs
internal costs? (is easily available)
TRANSFORMING INTERNAL PROCESSES

26. How have the changes identified in affected the business? (e.g. productivity
improvements, new markets, exports, lower costs)
27. What management practices help to support the process of innovation within the
firm?
52
28. How important are existing vs new personal contacts in deciding to implement an
innovation?
29. How does the firm establish internal procedures to ensure that knowledge brought in
from external service providers is maintained within the firm?
IMPACTS ON STAFF OF INNOVATION

30. Where do you look to find employees that you most rely on for business changes and
improvements (vs KISA)?
31. How do you ensure employees are trained to deliver new innovations in product and
services to your customers?
32. Do you maintain company practices or procedures that enable you to benefit from
ideas brought forward by other employees?
33. What are the relative roles of staff skills and knowledge, and formal procedures in
each of the above questions?
53

Tourism Industry: Knowledge Intensive Service Activities

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Knowledge Intensive Service Activities

A report prepared for the OECD KISA project

1.2 The KISA study

2.2 The survey

Table 1: Educational qualifications (survey sample)

Table 2: Business structure

Figure 1: Years in operation

Source: AEGIS Tourism survey (2004)

Figure 2: Average turnover

Source: AEGIS Tourism survey (2004)

2.3 Case studies: the innovators

Table 3: Characteristics of case study firms

2.5 Limitations of the study

3.2 Composition of the industry

Table 5: Number of management units by employment size for tourism

3.3 The economic contribution of the Industry

Table 6: Tourism share of consumption (per cent)

Table 7: Employed persons in tourism, 2002-03

Table 8: Occupational structure of total employment and tourist industry

1 Managers & Administrators 680.9 7.2 21.4 4.2

3.5 Tourism exports

Table 9: Exports of tourism goods and services

3.6 Tourism research and development

Table 10: Direct tourism related spending by Australian Government 2002-03

Figure 3: Changes to products/services

Source: AEGIS Tourism survey (2004)

Table 11: Firms with tourism awards and radical innovation

Source: AEGIS Tourism survey (2004)

Table 12: Use of KISA

Table14: Use of KISA-related services

Source: AEGIS Tourism survey (2004)

Figure 4: Firm expenditure on KISA-related services

Source: AEGIS Tourism survey (2004)

Table 15: Expenditure on KIS by Tourism Award winners

Table 16: >$50,000 Expenditure on KISA and size of the firm

Table 17: Sources of KISA

Source: AEGIS Tourism survey (2004)

Figure 5: Provision of services

Source: AEGIS Tourism survey (2004)

Figure 6: Location of KISA-related providers

Source: AEGIS Tourism survey (2004)

Table 19: Preferred location for provision of KISA-related services

Figure 7: Inputs to KISA financed by Government grants

Firms using grant allocations to finance knowledge intensive services

Source: AEGIS Tourism survey (2004)

Table 20: Tourism awards and government grants

Source: AEGIS Tourism survey (2004)

5.4 Summary of findings

Table 21: Radical innovations of tourism case studies

Banrock Feral proof fence Expectation of input Build capacity of Restructuring

Binna Burra Playground and Role of Board Success kit, Eco-friendly

Tjapukai Tjapukai at Night Quality circle for Mystery shopper Departments

6.2 Use of external KISA

6.3.1 Role of R&D institutions

6.3.2 Role of industry associations

6.3.3 Role of informal networks

6.4 Firm capabilities

6.4.1 Learning by firms

6.4.2 Knowledge management

1. Industry development advice