Knowledge Management (KM) and tourism.

Encouraging the effective sharing and transfer of intellectual assets is the foundation of knowledge management (KM) and key to innovation (Prusak, 2001). Conceptually this is not difficult to grasp, yet KM remains veiled in confusion (Call, 2005). Early efforts in the field emphasised technology as a means to mange knowledge. As KM moves in to a second generation of research, knowledge is seen as that which resides within individuals and while the role of technology is acknowledged, a more psychological /HR approach is taken in order to realise effective KM practices. The aim of this special issue is to present new perspectives of knowledge management, how these might relate specifically to the tourism sector, and how best to meet the challenges associated with this. While KM is possibly an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary development, there are several aspects of this current phenomenon which taken together represent a significant change in the way organisations manage people, processes and information and, as KM begins to find a balance, it is important to identify salient issues and to produce a body of empirical results that relate to the tourism sector and the role it plays in a knowledge-based economy