Inclusive social innovation for hospitality employment

Abstract

This study advances theoretical understanding of social innovation in tourism and hospitality by conceptualising inclusive social innovation as a dynamic, embedded process. Drawing on 23 multi-stakeholder interviews and participatory observations within a disability-inclusive social enterprise employing people with disability, Hotel Etico, the study applies embeddedness as a theoretical lens to examine how inclusive social innovation is initiated and sustained for equitable and inclusive distribution of social value. Findings identify six mechanisms and four pathways through which actors co-create inclusive social value. By theorising embeddedness as processual and multi-dimensional, this research extends current frameworks of social innovation and offers a novel perspective on how inclusive social innovation can be embedded in hospitality social enterprise to drive systemic change.