Coordination and Governance among Tour Agencies and Tourist Attractions: An Analysis of Tourism Production Systems in Brazil

Abstract

The successful planning and development of tourism requires systemic coordination and participation of agents from various economic sectors. This study analyzes the coordination and governance among tourist attractions and tour agencies in the city of Bonito, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, a leading ecotourism destination in that country. Transaction cost economic theoretical framework is used in this paper, taking transactions as the unit of analysis. Four tour agencies, three tourist attractions managers, and five representatives of institutional environment were surveyed in the city of Bonito. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to tour agencies and tourist attractions managers, and personal interviews were conducted with institutional and organizational agents. Research results suggest predominance of hybrid forms of governance among tour agencies and tourist attractions. Moreover, the institutional environment in the analyzed tourism system is highly significant with respect to the coordination and structural configuration of the tourism system, minimizing potential uncertainties and opportunistic behavior of agents in the analyzed tourism system.