Relationships, networks and the learning regions: case evidence from the Peak District National Park
Introduction
This paper uses the relational perspective inherent in relationship marketing and the networks approach to develop a contextual understanding of the dynamic nature of tourism networks and long-term relationships in the PDNP and their role in achieving sustainable tourism goals. The basic principles of sustainability as identified in World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED, 1987), or ‘the Brundtland Report’, include an emphasis on holistic planning and strategy making; the need to protect both human heritage and bio-diversity and to develop in such a way that productivity can be sustained over the long term for future generations; the goal of achieving a better balance of fairness; and opportunity between nations (Bramwell & Lane, 1993; Hall, 2000). Sustainable tourism has its origins in these notions of sustainability. As its content is broad, the concept provides an important holistic perspective on social and environmental issues. This research highlights the role of the inter-related economic, political, social and cultural activities and decisions of knowing individuals, constrained but not determined by their context, and enabled by their skills and knowledge to restructure that context. Thus it helps to understand sustainable tourism as a path-dependent emergent phenomena, recursively reproduced through specific forms of action (e.g. local tourism marketing initiatives, learning and consensus-building processes).
Further, given the focus of this research on social relationships and networks and how they shape the processes of collective learning and economic development in a locality, the three case study areas in the PDNP are described as the learning regions. The economic geography and regional development studies recognise a region as a scale of economic organisation and political intervention (Amin & Thrift, 1994; Storper, 1997; Maskell, Eskelinen, Hannibalsson, Malmberg, & Varne, 1998; MacLeod, 2001). However, a similar focus on the capacity of the tourism destinations as ‘regions’ that support processes of learning and innovation as a key source of competitive advantage, does not feature very strongly in tourism studies. Thus the emphasis here is on the exchange structure in a network characterised by an elaborate pattern of interaction and information-exchange between individual actors in relationships which may be close or distant, complex or simple, and/or possess ‘weak’ or ‘strong’ ties (Granovetter, 1973). This is in accordance with ‘a triple bottom line approach to tourism that considers economic, environmental and social issues simultaneously and emphasises the role of communication’ (DFID, 1999, p. 19). Also, tourism strategies in the UK recognise the role of ‘multi-stakeholder consultation groups/networks to take on sustainable tourism issues which build consensus through exchange’ (Tomorrow's Tourism, 1999).
Section 2 further discusses the need for co-operative approaches to promote destinations, as identified in previous research on tourism partnerships. It emphasises how the approaches of relationship marketing, the networks approach and the concept of the learning regions can further help in generating a greater understanding of the processes shaping partnerships. Section 3 illustrates the convergence between the principles of relationship marketing, the networks approach and their implications on the learning processes, stressing how the mechanisms for the spatial transfer of knowledge are social, transferred through channels based on shared rules and norms. Section 4 outlines the research context, briefly presenting the tourism profile in the three case study areas—Bakewell, Castleton and Tideswell—conceptualised as the learning regions. It also presents the research approach and the rationale for methods used. Empirical findings are presented in Section 5 and the discussion highlights the exchange structure in the PDNP determined by attitudes, activity-choice patterns of different actors. It examines different perceptions of actors towards networks in which they are involved and how they co-ordinate their actions with others in search for best solutions to issues at hand. Section 6 examines the value in exchange and the learning processes it engenders. The paper concludes by summarising the relevance of the relational framework and case evidence from the PDNP in sustainable tourism debate and policy making.
Section snippets
The need for co-operative approaches at tourism destinations
The need for co-operative approaches arises from a change in the competitive strategies that are influenced by the volatility and sensitivity of the tourism industry. One of the main challenges identified in the tourism strategy in the UK is to create a competitive, world-class tourism industry in Britain through exploring linkages between knowledge, empowerment and motivation of actors to create quality (Tomorrow's Tourism, 1999). This radical transformation of the travel and tourism industry
Learning by interacting: a discussion of relationships and networks
The key concepts and elements in relationship marketing, that are central to understanding the relationships and collective learning processes amongst tourism providers emphasise on:
- •
the relational exchange as opposed to transactional exchange which means identifying, establishing, maintaining, enhancing, and when necessary terminating social relationships amongst providers formed as a result of business transactions;
- •
trust and commitment that reinforce social relationships formed as a result of
The context for research
The Peak District National Park (PDNP) lies at the Southern end of the Pennine Hills between Sheffield and Manchester (Fig. 1). It was the first National Park to be set up in Britain in 1951 and covers parts of six counties. It has outstanding beauty, a rich cultural heritage and is of international environmental importance. More than 22 million visitors annually enjoy the Peak District experience (Annual Report, 2002–2003).
Sustainability and partnerships are the two key principles which are
The exchange structure in the PDNP
The exchange structure in the three learning regions in the PDNP is characterised by
- (a)
Formal networks—organised in order to bid for funding, taking on hierarchical arrangements based on rules (terms of reference, structure) and status. They may then develop contractual, market-based relationships through which to allocate resources for the delivery of a tourism project.
- (b)
Informal networks—which are not associated with any particular agency, have no budget and therefore may be invisible to the local
Value in exchange
Overall, one issue that clearly stands out is that the primary value of the networking process is the knowledge exchange, as actors are both consumers of information and sources of it as was pointed out by one of the members of the local authority:
“I think the strategic value (of being in partnerships) is that we can benefit from being part of a much bigger whole. … clear benefit lies in accessing funding, the ideas and the office time of the local authorities, which we are not going to get
Summary
The empirical analysis in this paper has attempted to integrate some of the concepts emerging from the literature on tourism partnerships, relationship marketing, networks approach and the learning regions, to gain a conceptual understanding of the numerous and manifold linkages, characterised by transactions of knowledge, resources and skills. The evidence from the PDNP draws attention to the place-based dynamics of the three learning regions and explains where, how and why economic decisions
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Mrs. Rosemary Duncan, the cartographer at Staffordshire University for her help in the reproduction of the map.
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