The study and practice of knowledge management has grown rapidly since the
90s, driven by social, economic, and technological trends. Tourism has been slow in adopting
this approach due to not only a lack of gearing between researchers and tourism, but also to a
‘‘hostile’’ knowledge adoption environment. Its acquisition would close the gap and also pro-
vide both insights and potential applications for tourism. Research in Australia supports the
assertion that this field is a late adopter of knowledge management. In response, this paper
provides a model for tourism. Keywords: knowledge management, knowledge economy,
knowledge stocks and flows. 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.