Fonte: Journal of Tourism & Development; v. 3, n. 21/22 (2014); 35-48
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Resumo: By incorporating a wide range of activities and organizations, tourism integrates various stakeholders, which, together, contribute to the development of the final product. Because they rely on each other to achieve their goals, the establishment of alliances, partnerships or networks between them becomes a necessity. Also the performance of destinations depends on the established connections between the stakeholders that compose them. So the networking between the various actors involved in tourism is a very important factor for the competitiveness of industry and tourist destinations. Starting from the perspective of stakeholders and using the Social Network Analysis (SNA) as methodology, this paper studies the properties and features of tourism network composed of various stakeholders involved in some municipalities of the Serra da Estrela Natural Park. Additionally, it identifies the existence of habits of cooperation, as well as the perception of stakeholders regarding the importance of networking. We conclude that the majority of stakeholders under study usually establish cooperative relationships, and that they agree that networks can contribute to the development of tourism and the region. However they report some difficulties / barriers to the formation and development of cooperative relationships, which can be worsened as Serra da Estrela’s Tourism Region comes to an end.
