Abstract
This paper aims to analyse the different roles that enterprises have within a tourist destination by identifying the presence and possible role of leaders within the system. The Social Network Analysis (SNA) is a tool that offers a greater degree of understanding of the operation of the destination. The map of commercial relations between the leading players of tourist supply can provide greater insight into the main relations existing between enterprises and the principles that ensure and regulate operation. In keeping with this objective and building on the results of a previous paper (Iannolino and Ruggieri, 2012), the authors have focused their attention on the role of some enterprises operating in San Vito Lo Capo (Italy) to determine the extent of their aggregating force vis-à-vis the destination. The ego-network analysis (ENA) has been applied to the existing relations between the enterprises at the destination San Vito Lo Capo, to determine the presence or absence of groups of enterprises, called Egos, which, with respect to the others, play an important role or are to be considered key subjects for the entire system in commercial terms. Following on this first results, the paper explores ways in which enterprises belonging to the ego networks are the key players responsible for a better climate of cooperation and trust among all of the system's enterprises.
Highlights
This paper aims to analyse the different roles that enterprises have within a tourist destination by identifying the presence and possible role of leaders within the system
The Social Network Analysis (SNA) is a tool that offers a greater degree of understanding of the operation of the destination
This paper aims at highlighting that the presence of formal, informal, intense, complex and concentrated relationships between firms does not explain per se how the tourist destination system works
Summary
The step now is to explore the role played by each enterprise within the three families It is based on the likely hypothesis that within these clusters, each enterprise may have more or less commercial relationships with other firms in the system. The graphical representation is an example of ego network in which firm res_1, which belongs to cluster 2, has the largest number of business relationships with firms at the tourist destination. Illustrating the aggregate of ego networks shows the map of influences exerted by groups of enterprises belonging to the three families. This network is slightly smaller than the destination of its aggregate, since it connects 73 enterprises out of a total of 80. Ego Network Analysis: characteristics For each family, it has been calculated the influence degree of the network calculated as the percentage of enterprises that the family can directly reach
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