A Systemic Framework of Innovation and Enabling Ecosystems for Social Enterprise Development in the Tourism Industry

Abstract

The tourism industry faces complex challenges arising from demand volatility, environmental pressures, and spatial inequalities. These conditions require social enterprises (SEs) to develop innovation as a means of linking social missions with competitiveness and long-term market viability. However, existing scholarship often conceptualizes innovation, enabling ecosystems, and supporting factors in a fragmented manner, thereby lacking a systemic framework that explains the mechanisms through which innovations are upgraded from pilot initiatives to scalable applications within the tourism context. Accordingly, This article aims to (1) analyze the foundational conceptual frameworks and key challenges of social enterprises, (2) examine the forms and scope of innovation adoption, and (3) identify and assess the critical components of innovation-enabling ecosystems. The study employs a synthetic literature review methodology based on relevant academic publications and policy documents.    

The synthesis indicates that innovation in tourism social enterprises functions as a concrete mechanism for aligning social missions with market logics, particularly through experience design that elevates local communities to the roles of co-creators and entrepreneurs. Effective scaling further depends on institutional support systems such as legal frameworks, incentive schemes, incubation platforms, and impact measurement tools which help shorten the transition from experimentation to practical implementation and expansion. On this basis, the article proposes a systemic perspective that integrates innovation, ecosystems, and enabling factors to identify key policy and managerial leverage points, thereby supporting Thai tourism social enterprises in shifting from scale-driven growth toward value-based and sustainable development.