Networking in a destination from the perspective of virtual relationships and their spatial dimension

Abstract

From the economic-geographical approach point of view, a tourism destination is traditionally regarded as a defined geographical area. However, the destination can be considered as a socio-economic system composed of a variety of entities, with many certain types of links among them. Increasing pressure on the destination competitiveness requires more complex methods for investigating internal links and the description of their structures. Using a network analysis in combination with a spatial perspective could provide relevant results for understanding collaborative relationships. This paper focuses on the network of relations that are established due to the participation in the tourism product – the Olomouc visitor card project. The core of the network analysis lies in the website links among stakeholders who joined the Olomouc visitor card project. The main idea is that these virtual relationships may also reflect a social process. Hence, the paper measures the quantitative network characteristics of tourism destination web space and visualizes the existing network on a map. Finally, the results are discussed in the context of tourism destination governance.