Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

Discovering the Intangible Innovation of Knowledge Sharing for Improving Rural Tourism Destinations' Competitiveness: A Collaborative Approach

Chee Hua Chin, Winnie Wong Poh Ming Wong, Chee Ling Chin, Franklin George

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v11-i8/10655

Open access

The study is possibly the first to examine the role of knowledge sharing in enhancing the competitiveness of rural tourism destinations, with a particular emphasis on sustainable management, destination marketing efforts, and comparative and competitive advantage. 315 valid questionnaires were collected from domestic and international visitors to Sarawak's five rural tourism destinations. A PLS-SEM approach was used to evaluate the developed model, with PLS estimation and hypothesis testing performed using the WarpPLS software. Interestingly, the statistical findings indicate that knowledge sharing has a significant effect on rural tourism destinations' competitiveness. The findings unavoidably contributed to the fundamental concept of destination competitiveness by identifying knowledge sharing as a resource for developing rural tourism destination competitiveness and its contribution to sustainable management, destination marketing efforts, as well as the comparative and competitive advantage of rural tourism destinations that are currently underdeveloped. This study contributes a comprehensive picture of how an intangible innovation can help develop a tourism destination's competitiveness. Future research should concentrate on identifying appropriate platforms to facilitate knowledge sharing among tourism stakeholders.

Adamov, T., Ciolac, R., Iancu, T., Brad, I., Pet, E., Popescu, G., and Smuleac, L. (2020), “Sustainability of Agritourism Activity. Initiatives and Challenges in Romanian Mountain Rural Regions”, Sustainability, Vol. 12, pp. 1-23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12062502
Albino, S. J., Rodrigues, P., Mendes, J., and Periera, L. N. (2010), “A tourism research agenda for Portugal”, The International Journal of Tourism Research, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 90-101. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.740
Ali, H. M., and Ahmad, N. H. (2006), “Knowledge management in Malaysian banks: A new paradigm”, Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 1-13.
Ali, L., and Avdic, A. (2015), “A knowledge management framework for sustainable rural development: The case of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan”, The Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 103-165.
Andrades, L., and Dimanche, F. (2019), “Destination competitiveness in Russia: tourism professional’s skills and competences”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 910-930. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-11-2017-0769
Ap, J. (1992), “Residents’ perceptions on tourism impacts”, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 665-690. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0160-7383(92)90060-3
Azzopardi, E. and Nash, R. (2016), “A framework for island destination competitiveness
– perspectives from the island of Malta”, Current Issues in Tourism, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 253-281. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2015.1025723
Baggio, R., and Cooper, C. (2008), “Knowledge management and transfer in tourism: An Italian case”, Proceedings in IASK – Advances in Tourism Research, May 26-28, Aveiro, Portugal.
Baggio, R,. and Cooper, C. (2010), “Knowledge transfer in a tourism destination: the
effects of a network structure”, The Service Industries Journal, Vol. 30 No. 10, pp. 1757-1771. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02642060903580649
Bagozzi, R. R., Yi, Y., and Philipps, L. W. (1991), “Assessing construct validity in organizational research”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 36 No. 3, pp. 421-458. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2393203
Bobirca, A., and Cristureanu, C. (2008), “Analyzing Romania's competitiveness as a tourism destination”, Advances in Hospitality Leisure, Vol. 4, pp. 75-99. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1745-3542(08)00004-0
Bock, G. W., Zmud, R. W., Kim, Y. G., and Lee, J. N. (2005), “Behavioral intention formation in knowledge sharing: Examining the roles of extrinsic motivators, social-psychological factors, and organizational climate”, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 29 No. 1, pp. 87-111. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/25148669
Buhalis, D. (2000), “Marketing the competitive destination of the future”, Tourism Management, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 97-116. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0261-5177(99)00095-3
Campón-Cerro, A. M., Hernández-Mogollón, J. M., and Alves, H. (2017), “Sustainable improvement of competitiveness in rural tourism destinations: The quest for tourist loyalty in Spain”, Journal of Destination Marketing and Management, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 252-266. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2016.04.005
Charband, Y., and Navimipour, N. J. (2016), “Online knowledge sharing mechanisms: A systematic review of the state of the art literature and recommendations for future research”, Information Systems Frontiers, Vol. 18, pp. 1131-1151. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-016-9628-z
Cheuk, S., Lo, M. C., and Atang, A. (2015), “Rural tourism destination performance in
East Malaysia: Influencing factors from the communities’ perspective”, Journal of Sustainable Development, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 124-138. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5539/jsd.v8n3p124
Chin, W. W. (2010), “How to write up and report PLS analyses”, In V. Esposito Vinzi, W. W. Chin, J. Henseler, & H. Wang (Eds.), Handbook of partial least squares: Concepts, methods and application. New York: Springer, pp. 645-689. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-32827-8_29
Ching, J. L., Lo, M. C., Suaidi, M. K., Mohamad, A. A., and Chin, C. H. (2019), “Tourists’ perspective on ecotourism destination competitiveness: The role of tangible components”, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Science, Vol. 9 No. 10, pp. 335-357. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v9-i11/6552
Cook, K. (2000), “Charting futures for sociology: Structure and actions”, Contemporary Sociology, Vol. 29 No. 5, pp. 685-692. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2655233
Crouch, G. I., and Ritchie, J. R. B. (1999), “Tourism, Competitiveness, and Societal Prosperity”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 44 No. 3, pp. 137-152. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0148-2963(97)00196-3
Davenport, T. H., and Prusak, L. (1998), “Working knowledge: How organizations manage what they know”, Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Demirovi?, D., Petrovi?, M. D., Monteiro, L. C. N., and Stjepanovi?, S. (2016), “An examination of competitiveness of rural destinations from the supply side perspective”, Journal of the Geographical Institute Jovan Cvijic, Vol. 66 No. 3, pp. 387-400. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2298/IJGI1603387D
Dwyer, L., and Kim, C. (2003), “Destination competitiveness: Determinants and
indicators”, Current Issues in Tourism, Vol. 6 No. 5, pp. 369-414. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500308667962
Enright, M., and Newton, J. (2005), “Determinants of tourism destination competitiveness in Asia Pacific: Comprehensiveness and Universality”, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 43 No. 4, pp. 339-350. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287505274647
Erislan. (2016), “Tourist attraction and the uniqueness of resources on tourist destination in West Java, Indonesia”, Review of Integrative Business and Economics Research, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 251-266. DOI: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2864086
Fatt, C. K., and Khin, E. W. S. (2010), “The social-technical view of knowledge management in services industries”, Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 256-264. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3844/jssp.2010.256.264
Fernández, J. A. S., Azevedo, P. S., Martín, J. M. M., and Martín, J. A. R. (2020), “Determinants of tourism destination competitiveness in the countries most visited by international tourists: Proposal of a synthetic index”, Tourism Management Perspectives, Vol. 33, pp. 1-13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2019.100582
Font, X.. and McCabe, S. (2017), “Sustainability and marketing in tourism: its contexts,
paradoxes, approaches, challenges and potential”, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Vol. 25 No. 7, pp. 869-883. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2017.1301721
Fornell, C. (1992), “A national customer satisfaction barometer: The Swedish experience”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 56 No. 1, pp. 6-21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1252129
Fornell, C., and Larcker, D. F. (1981), “Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 18 No. 1, pp. 39-50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800104
Fouad, F., Tourabi, A., and Lakhnati, G. (2017), “The impact of tangible and intangible innovation activities on the new product objectives in three phases of the innovation process: Case of the fish industry – Morocco”, Technology and Investment, Vol. 8, pp. 11-32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/ti.2017.81002
Ghobadi, S., and D’Ambra, J. (2011), “Coopetitive knowledge sharing: An analytical review of literature”, Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 307-317.
Giray, F. H., Kadakog?lu, B., Çetin, F., and Bamoi, A. G. A. (2019), “Rural tourism marketing: Lavender tourism in Turkey”, Ciência Rural, Vol. 49 No. 2, pp. 1-15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-8478cr20180651
Guenther, T. W., and Heinicke, A. (2019), “Relationships among types of use, levels of sophistication, and organizational outcomes of performance measurement systems: The crucial role of design choices”, Management Accounting Research, Vol. 42, pp. 1-25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mar.2018.07.002
Guo, S., Jiang, Y., and Long, W. (2020), “Urban tourism competitiveness evaluation system and its application: Comparison and analysis of regression and classification methods”, Procedia in Computer Science, Vol. 162, pp. 429-437. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2019.12.007
Gupta, S. D. (2009), “Comparative advantage and competitive advantage: An economics perspective and a synthesis”, Athens Journal of Business and Economics, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 9-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30958/ajbe.1-1-1
Hair, J., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., and Sarstedt, M. (2017), “A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling”, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Hansen, E. G., and Schaltegger, S. (2016), “The sustainability balanced scorecard: A systematic review of architectures”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 133, pp. 193-221. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2340-3
Hoarau, H., and Kline, C. (2014), “Science and industry: Sharing knowledge for innovation”, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol.46, pp. 44-61. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2014.01.005
Islam, M. Z., Jasimuddin, S. M., and Hasan, I. (2015), “Organizational culture, structure, technology infrastructure and knowledge sharing: Empirical evidence from MNCs based in Malaysia”, VINE, Vol. 45 No. 1, pp. 67-88. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/VINE-05-2014-0037
Jaafar, M., Bakri, N.M. and Rasoolimanesh, S.M. (2015), “Local community and tourism
development: A study of rural mountainous destinations”, Modern Applied Science, Vol. 9 No. 8, pp. 399-408. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5539/mas.v9n8p399
Jain, K. K., Manjit, S. S., and Gurvinder, K. S. (2007), “Knowledge sharing among academic staff: A case study of Business Schools in Klang Valley, Malaysia’, Journal of the Advancement of Science and Arts, Vol. 2, pp. 23-29.
Jensen, S. (2003), “Knowledge creation and transfer in the tourism industry. Results from a study in the county of storstrom, Denmark”, Paper presented at the DRUID Summer Conference on Creating, Sharing, and Transferring Knowledge. The Role of Geography, Institutions, and Organizations, 12-14 June, Copenhagen.
Joyner, L., Lackey, Q., and Bricker, K. (2018), “Ecotourism Outlook 2018.”, In 2018 Outlook Marketing Forum (p. 1). Las Vegas: Travel and Tourism Research Association. Retrieved from https://ttra.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Ecotourism-Outlook-2018.pdf
Kacperska, E., and ?ukasiewicz, K. (2020), “The Importance of trust in knowledge sharing and the efficiency of doing business on the example of tourism”, Information, Vol. 11 No. 311, pp. 1-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/info11060311
Kamasak, R., and Bulutlar, F. (2010), “The influence of knowledge sharing on innovation”, European Business Review, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 306-317. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/09555341011040994
Kim, T. T., and Lee, G. (2013), “Hospitality employee knowledge-sharing behaviors in the relationship between goal orientations and service innovative behaviour”, International Journal of Hospitality Management, Vol. 34, pp. 324-337. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2013.04.009
Kozak, M. (1999), “Destination competitiveness measurement: Analysis of effective factors and indicators”, The 39th. European Regional Science Association Conference (No. 289). Vienna: European Regional Science Association. DOI: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/114351
Lee, T. H. (2013), “Influence analysis of community resident support for sustainable tourism development”, Tourism Management, Vol. 34, pp. 37-46. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2012.03.007
Liao, S. (2003), “Knowledge management technologies and applications – Literature review from 1995 to 2002”, Expert Systems with Applications, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 155-165. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0957-4174(03)00043-5
Liao, S-H., Chang, J. C., Cheng, S-C., and Kuo, C-M. (2004), “Employee relationship and
knowledge sharing: A case study of a Taiwanese finance and securities firm”, Knowledge Management Research & Practice, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 24-34. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.kmrp.8500016
Luis, M. I., Ana, R. R., María, J. S. D. (2018), “The challenge of long-term tourism competitiveness in the age of innovation: Spain as a case study”, Investigaiones Regionales – Journal of Regional Research, Vol. 42, pp. 13-34.
Manhas, P. S., Manrai, L. A., and Manrai, A. K. (2016), “Role of tourist destination development in building its brand image: A conceptual model”, Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science, Vol. 21 No. 40, pp. 25-29. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jefas.2016.01.001
Matthias, F., and Birgit, P. (2019), “Destination image analysis – A cross-cultural segmentation approach”, In proceedings TTRA, Glasgow.
Molose, T., and Ezeuduji, I.O. (2015), “Knowledge sharing, team culture, and service innovation in the hospitality sector: The case of South Africa”, African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 1-16.
Money, W., and Turner, A. (2004), “Application of the technology acceptance model to a knowledge management system”, Proceedings of the 37th Hawaiian Conference on Systems Science.
Munar, A. M., and Jacobsen, J. K. S. (2014), “Motivations for sharing tourism experiences through social media”, Tourism Management, Vol. 43, pp. 46-54. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2014.01.012
Mustafa, H., Omar, B., and Mukhiar, S. N. S. (2020), “Measuring destination
competitiveness: An importance-performance analysis (IPA) of six top island destinations in South East Asia”, Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 223-243. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2019.1687534
N’Drower, F. P. (2014), “Sustainable rural tourism practices in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea”, Contemporary PNG Studies: DWU Research Journal, Vol. 20, pp. 90-102.
Newall, L. E. (1992), “The Challenge of Competitiveness”, Business Quarterly, Vol. 56 No. 4, pp. 94-100.
Nickerson, J. A., and Zenger, T. R. (2004), “A knowledge-based theory of the firm – the problem-solving perspective”, Organization Science, Vol. 15 No. 6, pp. 617-632. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1040.0093
Nulty, D.D. (2008), “The adequacy of response rates to online and paper surveys: what
can be done?”, Journal of Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 301-314. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930701293231
Nunes, S., Estevão, C., and Filipe, M. N. (2018), “Determinant factors of competitiveness in the hotel sector: The case of Portugal”, Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 122-135. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/cr-07-2016-0043
Odunga, E. W., Kieti, D., and Too, J. K. (2020), “Influence of knowledge sharing by tourism stakeholders on a destination’s competitiveness, Baringo County – Kenya”, International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management, Vol. VIII No. 4, pp. 26-55.
Okyere-Kwakye, E., and Nor, K. M. (2011), “Individual factors and knowledge sharing”, American Journal of Economics and Business Administration, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 66-72. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3844/ajebasp.2011.66.72
Paroutis, S. and Al Saleh, A. (2009), “Determinants of knowledge sharing using web 2.0 technologies”, Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 52-63.
Peceny, U. S., Urban?i?, J., Mokorel, S., Kuralt, V., and Ilijaš, T. (2019), “Tourism 4.0: Challenges in Marketing a Paradigm Shift”, Chapter in Book: Consumer Behavior and Marketing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84762
Porter, M. (1985), “Competitive advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance”, New York: The Free Press.
Porter, M. E. (1990), “The competitive advantage of nations”, New York: Free Press.
Puccinelli, B. (1998), “Strategies for sharing knowledge”, Inform, Vol. 12 No. 9, pp. 40-41.
Rahmiati, F., Othman, N. A., and Tahir, M. N. H. (2020), “Examining the trip experience on competitive advantage creation in tourism”, International Journal of Economics and Business Administration, Vol. VIII No. 1, pp. 15-30.
Rajaratnam, S. D., and Nair, V. (2015), “Destination quality and tourists’ behavioral intentions: Rural tourist destinations in Malaysia”, Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, Vol. 7 No. 5, pp. 463-472. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/WHATT-06-2015-0026
Rao, Y., Yang, M., and Yang, Y. (2018), “Knowledge sharing, organizational learning and service innovation in tourism”, Journal of Service Science and Management, Vol. 11 No. 5, pp. 510-526. DOI: https://doi.org/ 10.4236/jssm.2018.115035
Razmerita, L., Kirchner, K., and Nielsen, P. (2016), “What factors influence knowledge sharing in organizations? A social dilemma perspective of social media communication”, Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 20 No. 6, pp. 1225-1246. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-03-2016-0112
Rodríguez-Díaz, B., and Pulido-Fernández, J. I. (2020), “Analysis of the worth of the weights in a new Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index”, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 60 No. 2, pp. 1-14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287519899982
Sapari, M. S., Shuib, A., Ramachandran, S., and Kunasekaran, P. (2019), “Contributions of Tourism Micro and Small Entrepreneurs to Local Community Livelihood”, SSRG International Journal of Economics and Management Studies, Vol. 6 No. 8, pp. 182-189.
Scott, D., Hall, C. M., and Gössling, S. (2019), “Global tourism vulnerability to climate change”, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 77, pp. 49-61. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2019.05.007
Scott, N., and Laws, E. (2006), “Knowledge sharing in tourism and hospitality”, In: Scott, N. & Laws, E. (eds.), Knowledge Sharing and Quality Assurance in Hospitality and Tourism. New York: The Haworth Hospitality Press, pp. 1-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203051818
Shaw, G., and Williams, A. M. (2009), “Knowledge transfer and management in tourism organisations: An emerging research agenda”, Tourism Management, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 325-335. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2008.02.023
Shen, S., Sotiriadis, M., and Zhou, Q. (2020), “Could Smart Tourists Be Sustainable and Responsible as Well? The Contribution of Social Networking Sites to Improving Their Sustainable and Responsible Behavior”, Sustainability, Vol. 12, pp. 1470-1490. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12041470
Silva, R., and Oliveira, C. (2020), “The influence of innovation in tangible and intangible resource allocation: A qualitative multi case study”, Sustainability, Vol. 12, pp. 4989-5010. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12124989
Swanson, E., Kim, S., Lee, S. M., Yang, J. J., and Lee, Y. K. (2020), “The effect of leader competencies on knowledge sharing and job performance: Social capital theory”, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Vol. 42, pp. 88-96. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2019.11.004
Thompson, F. M., Newman, A., and Liu, M. (2014), “The moderating effect of individual level collectivist values on brand loyalty”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 67 No. 11, pp. 2437-2446. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.02.011
?î?u, M. A., R?ulea, A. S., and ?î?u, ?. (2016), “Measuring service quality in tourism industry”, Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 221, pp. 294-301. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.05.118
UNDP. (2013), “Knowledge Sharing”, Retrieved from http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/knowledge_exchange/
Wang, Y., and Pfister, R. E. (2008), “Residents’ attitudes toward tourism and perceived personal benefits in a rural community”, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 47 No. 1, pp. 84-93. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287507312402
Yeh, C. M., Hu, H. N., & Tsai, S. H. (2011), “A conceptual model of knowledge sharing and market orientation in the tourism sector”, American Journal of Applied Sciences, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 343-347.
Yiu, M., and Law, R. (2012), “Factors influencing knowledge sharing behavior: A social- psychological view in tourism”, Service Science, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 11-31.
Yoon, Y. (2002), “Development of a structural model for tourism destination competitiveness from stakeholders’ perspectives”, Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Hospitality and Tourism Management.
Zaei, M. E., and Zaei, M. E. (2014), “Knowledge management in hospitality and tourism industry: A KM research perspective”, Information and Knowledge Management, Vol. 4 No. 9, pp. 114-122.

In-Text Citation: (Chin et al., 2021)
To Cite this Article: Chin, C.-H., Ming, W. W. P., Chin, C.-L., & George, F. (2021). Discovering the Intangible Innovation of Knowledge Sharing for Improving Rural Tourism Destinations’ Competitiveness: A Collaborative Approach. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(8), 1728–1747.