Innovation is fundamental to any industry in its quest to realising its potential. The tourism industry is no different in this pursuit of excellence and innovation but, unlike many other industries, it is largely comprised of small businesses that struggle to stay abreast of new innovations and adopt them. Many innovations, that are sought by the industry and developed accordingly, are not used for a range of reasons. The failure to adopt the new ideas then leads to reluctance to produce further innovations. Thus, it is argued, the main problem confronting the tourism industry is not so much the lack of innovation but rather the failure to adopt innovation. This paper examines the literature behind innovation adoption within the tourism industry, provides examples of innovation within the Australian tourism industry context and the difficulties faced by industry in the uptake of the innovative products. The paper concludes with recommendations to overcome these barriers for innovation uptake.