Cooperation among prominent actors in a tourist destination

Cooperative behavior in tourism destination communities is a condition for sustainable planning and development. However, evidence is lacking on how actors choose to cooperate. Previous research in institutions, organizations, and communities show that formal, contract-based as well as informal, relation-based cooperation occur jointly or in substitution, depending on the context and the subject of research. However, neither the approaches nor their underlying dimensions have been tested for the reality of tourist destination communities. For a European Alpine tourism destination the results show that only relation-based items, in combination with communication variables, strongly positively influence cooperative behavior. The paper suggests a series of implications for tourism destination planning and concludes with indications for further research.

Research highlights
► Cooperation among prominent actors in a tourist community is relation-based.
► Preferences to cooperate are more relevant at personal than institutional level.
► Information exchange occurs but reflects a formal rule (social exchange theory).
► Cooperative behavior is linked to sympathy (behavioral game theory).
► Local social networks and personal bonds increase the likelihood of cooperation.