Value co-creation in the hospitality industry: learning from the Vascitour experience

Objectives. This paper aims to explore the processes of value co-creation in the hospitality industry according to customer-dominant (C-D) logic. Methodology. This study follows a qualitative approach. Through an in-depth case-study analysis, the proposed research examines the empirical evidence of Vascitour, a startup formed as cooperative in May 2016 in the Italian hospitality industry. Findings. The most interesting result seems to refer to the idea that value co-creation in hospitality industry is connected to the interactive service context that is generated between customer ecosystem and provider’s service system. In the Vascitour case, it depends on the interaction in local culture that is created through the unique and authentic interaction with service provider, hosts, other guests/travelers, and physical structure related to service. Research limits. This paper presents the same limits that every single case study analysis has, such as inter-related issues of methodological rigor, researcher’s subjectivity, and external validity. Moreover, final considerations cannot be generalized because of the subjectivity of the choice of the sampling, the selection of interviewees and the limited number of managed interviews. Practical implications. This paper suggests to value co-create in experiential terms by considering the immersion of customers/guests in the service delivery process and in local culture, to create experiences connected to the spirit of the place and its people, and to replicate Vascitour’s formula in other contexts by considering customers subjective logic and local peculiarities of territory. Originality of the study. In addition to be original in itself in the Italian context, the case Vascitour proposed for this study is one of the examples of value co-creation in the hospitality industry that enables to concrete the studies hitherto conducted only theoretically.