Small and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMEs) are the dominant industry players in rural destinations. This study investigates how they can contribute to socio-cultural sustainability benefits of rural destination communities by engaging in co-creation in innovation for sustainability (IFS). The rural destinations of Vega and Røros were selected as qualitative empirical cases to investigate 14 tourism SMEs' co-creation in IFS practices. The findings indicate that due to contextual elements of rurality (e.g. local embeddedness, strong personal relations, and trust), tourism SMEs co-create in IFS with various local stakeholders, and contribute to the socio-cultural benefits of rural destinations' sustainability through local sourcing, education, resource synergies, inclusion, and quality of life. This study contributes to the literature on sustainable rural destination development and the role of tourism SMEs, as well as expands the understanding of IFS and the benefits of co-creation.

中小型旅游企业是乡村旅游目的地的主导产业主体。本研究调查了他们如何通过参与可持续创新 (IFS) 的共同创造，为农村目的地社区的社会文化可持续发展效益做出贡献。选取Vega和Røros乡村目的地作为定性实证案例，调查14家旅游中小企业在IFS实践中的共创情况。研究结果表明，由于乡村的背景要素（例如当地嵌入性、牢固的个人关系和信任），旅游中小企业在IFS中与各种当地利益相关者共同创造，并通过当地的可持续发展为乡村目的地的可持续发展的社会文化效益做出贡献。采购、教育、资源协同、包容性和生活质量。这项研究为有关可持续乡村目的地发展和旅游中小企业的作用的文献做出了贡献，并扩大了对 IFS 和共同创造的好处的理解。