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This paper aims to provide a contemporary review of the field of tourism and knowledge management.

The review draws upon an extensive range of generic knowledge management literature as well as the rather less developed literature on tourism and knowledge management.

The review finds that tourism has been slow to adopt a knowledge management approach, partly due to the context of the tourism sector. However, by taking a “network gaze”, this paper shows that the benefits of knowledge management for tourism are clear and that policy for knowledge management can be of benefit to tourism.

This paper provides a contemporary review of the knowledge management literature and situates it within the tourism context.

States that information and help on managing business risk was sought by the Financial and Management Accounting Committee of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Examines Pricewaterhouse‐Coopers part in this – in their guise as Global Risk Management Solutions and the guidance in an emerging area. Further discusses risk management and the interest in it, its improvement possibilities and the adoption of an integrated approach. Proposes that the implementation of risk architecture is not a response to risk but rather a paradigm shift that involves enterprises changing.

This chapter discusses the emerging network science approach to the study of complex adaptive systems and applies tools derived from statistical physics to the analysis of tourism destinations. The authors provide a brief history of network science and the characteristics of a network as well as different models such as small world and scale free networks, and dynamic properties such as resilience and information diffusion. The Italian resort island of Elba is used as a case study allowing comparison of the communication network of tourist organizations and the virtual network formed by the websites of these organizations. The study compares the parameters of these networks to networks from the literature and to randomly created networks. The analyses include computer simulations to assess the dynamic properties of these networks. The results indicate that the Elba tourism network has a low degree of collaboration between members. These findings provide a quantitative measure of network performance. In general, the application of network science to the study of social systems offers opportunities for better management of tourism destinations and complex social systems.

The growing interest in complexity science as a framework for understanding social and economic systems has had, in recent times, an influence on the study of tourism destinations. This paper aims to describe this approach and discuss its theoretical and methodological implications in terms of destination governance.

Traditional research has adopted a reductionist approach to modelling tourist destinations: variables and relationships are embedded in simplified linear models that explain observed phenomena and allow implications for management or forecasting of future behaviours. In comparison, this paper adopts an adaptive management approach. Rather than imposing lines of action to force the evolutionary path of a system, the effect of different management actions are modelled, producing experimental results that provide information about the system that is being managed, and used to refine strategies and governance styles. Complex systems provide a theoretical framework in which this adaptive philosophy is naturally embedded. After a brief overview of the complexity framework, the paper discusses its validity and applicability to the study of tourism systems by using a set of network analysis methods and numerical simulations.

This paper discusses a new perspective useful for the study of tourism destination governance, providing insights into its organisational structure and dynamic behaviour.

The paper proposes a philosophy and practical toolset to analyse and understand a tourism destination and the relationships between its stakeholders. It discusses the implications of this new approach with regard to the governance methods.

The purpose of the paper is to present a vocabulary of terms that clearly define knowledge management (KM) activities in order to move towards consensus in the adoption of a common language within the field.

Existing literature across several disciplines has been integrated to provide a clear description of the sorts of activities an individual undertakes in order to move from knowledge acquisition to innovation, and a clarification of the terms used to describe such activities is put forth.

Adoption of a common vocabulary to describe KM activities provides a platform to better understand how best to manage these activities, and enables clearer identification of the knowledge management capabilities held by various sectors within the broader business community.

There is a need to undertake empirical research and in‐depth case studies of knowledge management practices using a common vocabulary as a framework with which to interpret findings.

The adoption of a common frame of reference to describe knowledge management activities will deepen understanding of current KM practices, enable identification inhibitors and facilitators of KM, lead to increased dialogue between academia and industry, and present opportunities to the education sector to incorporate such a vocabulary into its curriculum.

The framework presented here will remove the veil of mystery that currently clouds knowledge management and facilitate broader uptake of KM practices, thereby realising the benefits of a knowledge‐based economy in the broader business community.

The application of network theory and social network analysis (SNA) to tourism and hospitality is recent. Nonetheless, several authors have been applying the method contributing to regional planning, local-level tourism networks, tourism policy and governance, innovation, entrepreneurship, knowledge transfer, and learning. This chapter aims to characterize the use of SNA in tourism and hospitality research. Specifically, it intends to: (i) present the framework of SNA in a methodological perspective; (ii) perform a bibliometric analysis of SNA use in tourism and hospitality research; (iii) systematize the dimensions and metrics that researchers can use to apply SNA, namely the relevance for tourism; and (iv) present a case study analyzing tourism innovation networks. This chapter brings important contributions to tourism and hospitality research and practice, by focusing on the theoretical framework and practical application of SNA, providing relevant conceptual and practical knowledge that will empower researchers to use this method in tourism and hospitality studies.