Fonte: Journal of Tourism & Development; v. 3, n. 21/22 (2014); 73-82
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Resumo: This qualitative research effort involved 16 interviews and contributes to the research on innovation in tourism. The author concludes that Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, winner of the Ballon d’Or 2013, is an innovative top-of-the-range product responsible for a significant positive impact on the image and reputation of his country (Portugal) and birthplace (Madeira Island) and also on the tourism in these locations. The new concept of SuperTourINNOV (Superstar Tourism Innovation) is presented as a force for development and job creation, as the innovative Cristiano Ronaldo (CR7) Museum takes significant steps to becoming an important tourist attraction on Madeira Island. The interviewees, including frontline travel agency operators, visitors to the CR7 Museum, and CR7 Museum employees, emphasize the importance of destination innovation – depending, partly, in this case, on Ronaldo’s victories and on SuperTourINNOV – which can prove, however, to be as uncertain as continued innovation at companies such as Nokia and BlackBerry – which used to be market leaders.
