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Abstract: This article presents a study on innovation in the hospitality industry. Innovation is a multidimensional concept, and most of the time, especially in tourism, it is not materialized in something palpable. Thus, innovation can also include existing products and services. The goal of this investigation is to identify innovation in the hospitality industry in the town of Alba Iulia and the determining factors of innovation in this field of activity for companies within the analysis. The research method used in order to reach the objective mentioned and testing research hypothesis were based on questionnaires with the theme of innovation, which were answered by managers of hotels in the county of Alba. The hypothesis of this research was that the innovation practices in tourism and their implementation are dependent on the preferences of managers, their vision regarding how to develop the business as well as external conditions. Resulting from the analysis was that the most important determining factors for innovation were the desire and expectations of clients, followed by the desire to access external funds for the development of their business. For most of the cases, innovation projects have significant results. However, there are also some impediments entrepreneurs have to face when implementing these practices. It is in this context that the importance of an employee must be highlighted when developing new products and services. Hence, their continuous professional formation can be a good step to obtain success in this domain. Another important aspect for innovation projects to reach their goal and to have sustainable success is the cooperation with other partners from the hospitality industry, as well with public and research institutions. When looking into innovating and development ideas, most of the time, managers will count on their experience, speculation, or their instinct because systematic knowledge for successful innovation process is limited.
Keywords: innovation, factors of innovation, hospitality industry, tourism
1.Introduction
This article presents the results of our research on the theme of innovation complete by managers of hotels in the county of Alba Iulia, Romania. Alba Iulia has several places appreciated by tourists both in nature and in the patrimony area. The recent investments in the tourism area have transformed Alba Iulia in open-air museums. This is why, this research wants to...