A Process for Co-Creating Shared Value with the Crowd: Tourism Case Studies from a Regional Innovation System in Western Switzerland

Despite the presence of a regional innovation system, the gross value added attributed to tourism in the Swiss region of Valais is declining. Innovation policies fostering private initiatives and collaboration between companies, researchers, and coaching services have been reinforced recently, and policy instruments are in place to support strategic industries. However, no incitement instrument is dedicated to supporting the co-creation and the creation of shared value through local actors. This article presents a co-creation process of shared value and the lessons learned while implementing a new mode of innovation and entrepreneurship in two case studies in the peripheral region of Valais, Switzerland. The aim of the process is the co-creation of shared value-based business models, with an emphasis on the use of crowdsourcing to find new ways to create shared value.