Tourism destination brokers: A network analytic approach

Abstract

Understanding the interactions of tourist companies in different tourism sub-sectors could be relevant for advancing the destination's organisation and management. The present article employs a network analysis to examine inter-organisational interactions and the various roles that some companies assume in tourism destinations. The results reveal the existence of a network in which enterprises, identified as brokers, take on strategic roles both within and outside of their specific sub-sectors of origin. This study proposes new social network analysis indicators to identify the distinctive and prevalent position of company brokers, who manage inter-organisational relations by spontaneously assuming specific roles within the tourist destination network. Serving as coordinators, gatekeepers, consultants, liaisons and representatives, such brokers facilitate cooperative and collaborative practices among companies in different tourism sub-sectors, thus increasing actors' network cohesion across a given tourist destination.