Selected aspects of innovativeness of hotel enterprises located in the Silesian Beskid

The cognitive aim of this study is to determine conditions for the implementation of innovations in hotel enterprises located in the Silesian Beskid. The article is a theoretical and empirical study. In the theoretical area a deduction method was applied by analyzing literature and source materials. In the empirical area a documentary method was applied on which the statistical data were obtained from secondary sources, collected and compiled by the Central Statistical Office and the Ministry of Sports and Tourism. A second method was used in the form of a diagnostic survey in which extensive, categorized and confidential interviews were carried out. The spatial scope of the study included the most attractive tourist towns of the Silesian Beskid - Vistula and Retreat, and was compiled in the first half of 2011. The most important group of innovations generated by the examined hotels were product innovations, including: hotel buildings and its surroundings, interior design, technology and equipment, and basic and additional services. The main reasons for implementing innovations were: market requirements and the large role of innovations in the capabilities to compete effectively, whereas the most important sources of knowledge which create innovations include: experience of the staff and owners, online resources, and customer feedback. The largest barriers to the implementation of innovations were: limited financial re-sources, inadequate skills of human resources and an unstable legal system. Personal funds in the case of hotels with low or medium standards and personal resources, bank credits and aid from the EU in the hotels of high standard, were the most important sources of innovations' funding. The owners and managers surveyed assessed the impact of the generation of innovation on competitiveness in their hotel companies as very strong, and they have plans to continue to implement innovations, mainly product ones