Open innovation platforms in tourism: how do stakeholders engage and reach consensus?

Purpose This paper aims to visualize the communication processes between stakeholders who discuss, reach consensus and engage with user-generated ideas through an open innovation platform facilitated by Destination Management Organization (DMO). Design/methodology/approach Various discussion and interaction styles between the different types of stakeholders on the innovation platform are analyzed using quantitative content analysis. Likewise, perceived issues among the stakeholders that motivate collaboration and consensus are identified. Findings This paper identifies that stakeholders interact with each other, reach agreements and solve joint problems on the platform by using predominantly constructive interaction styles. Meanwhile, feasibility and strategic issues appear to be the most dominant topics when discussing the fruition of ideas; however, this depends significantly on the category of the idea. Practical implications DMOs are given an understanding of why and how stakeholders engage with a certain idea and the kind of challenges they perceive when pursuing the execution of an idea. DMOs are advised to carefully design an open innovation platform to facilitate effective online discussions that may lead to working groups. Originality/value There is a scarcity of approaches in the field of tourism that invite stakeholders to innovate. This study aims to close this gap in tourism research by identifying how and which stakeholders respond to an invitation from a DMO to engage in an open innovation platform and, subsequently, how they interact with other partners to foster collaborative innovation projects in their destination.