The management of innovation in Cuban travel agencies

Abstract

Innovation has become one of the fundamental instruments within companies that want to remain competitive in an increasingly complex and changing environment. However, many entities in the Cuban tourism sector, specifically travel agencies, have insufficient Innovation Management and their current situation is unknown. Therefore, the objective of this research is: Assess the management of innovation in general travel agencies, belonging to (OSDE) Viajes Cuba. For this, it was determined to apply in three travel agencies, one of these models of diagnosis and improvement of innovation management: Guide for the Self-evaluation of Business Innovation Management prepared by the Andalusian Center for Excellence in Management, ( 2009), The Model of the 7 Dimensions (7 D's) by Arzola & Mejías, (2007), and the merger of the model of the Center for Innovation and Business Development of the Generalitat de Catalunya (CIDEM) developed in 2002 and the procedure for the evaluation of Innovation Management proposed by the same institution in 2009. The stages corresponding to the diagnosis within these methodologies included the application of questionnaires, interviews with managers, in-depth interviews with R + D + i specialists and documentary analysis. The diagnosis and application of the Vester Matrix, the problem tree and the objectives tree, made it possible to identify the existing gaps between the ideal and current state, allowing to structure the logical framework for improvement, as well as to establish a set of indicators for planning and control in these tourist institutions..