Abstract
This chapter examines the development and associated outcomes of two government funded projects designed to support small tourism enterprise (STE) collaboration in rural New Zealand. Following a review of literature on the importance of networks and information and communication technology (ICT) in STE and local development, we discuss “Kiwitrails,” a five-year program designed to develop a Web-based virtual community of businesses in the remote and relatively impoverished East Coast of the country’s North Island. We then review an ICT enabled STE network in Western Southland, a region with a strong farming base. The cases reveal that local “champions” are vital in initiating and sustaining collaborative organizational activity, and in facilitating the environment within which STE networks can flourish. We argue that locality and embedded cultural dimensions must be factored into government and/or community attempts to develop ICT enabled collaborative initiatives in tourism.
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