INTRODUCTION
The generation and use of new knowledge to feed innovation and
product development is critical for the competitiveness of both tourism
destinations and enterprises (Hjalager 2002). Yet, as Stamboulis and
Skayannis (2003) note, the industry has failed to embrace this ap-
proach, in part due to the poor linkages between it and academic re-
search. In many other sectors of the economy, such as primary
industries, knowledge transfers efficiently because the gearing between
researcher and business is tight and formalized, which is not the case in
tourism. As Jenkins (1999) observes, academic research seldom influ-
ences the real world of practice. Faulkner, Pearce and Shaw (1994)