Are different types of interfirm linkages conducive to different types of tourism innovation?

Abstract Few studies have researched how the linkages of tourist firms are related to the types of tourism innovation. Therefore, an organizational information processing theory perspective, a case study approach, and a focus group method were adopted in the Pearl River Delta area (China) to discover how different types of firm linkages influence tourism innovation. The findings reveal that tourist firms have four main forms of linkages and that they have differentiated impacts on innovations. Intracompany linkages are beneficial for institutional, managerial, and product innovations; both intercompany and intrasectoral linkages encourage marketing and product innovations, whereas intersectoral linkages facilitate process innovation and product innovation. These findings fill a research gap in the knowledge of firm‐based innovative linkages and explore the importance of linkages between tourism services and tourism manufacturing.