Elsevier

Tourism Management

Volume 26, Issue 2, April 2005, Pages 277-289
Tourism Management

Relationships, networks and the learning regions: case evidence from the Peak District National Park

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2003.11.013Get rights and content

Abstract

This paper constructs a relational framework using principles of relationship marketing and the networks approach to examine the nature of exchange structure in the three case study areas—Casteton, Bakewell and Tideswell in the Peak District National Park (PDNP)—which are conceptualised as the learning regions. It examines different attitudes of actors towards partnership building and their perception of cross-sector networks. It is argued that sustainable tourism product is ‘territorially embedded’ in ongoing social networks and relationships. The paper illustrates how interactions amongst actors provide a context for learning. It highlights how complex web of relations provide relational capital for different actors to enable greater learning and co-operation in the future. Thus it is guided by an overall aim of investigating the implications of consciously accommodating shared concerns about local environment and collectively selling the destination.

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.

References (60)

  • P. Aydalot

    Miliuex Innovateurs in Europe

    (1986)
  • Bagozzi, R. P. (1979). Toward a formal theory of marketing exchanges. In: O. C. Ferell, Brown, & C. W. Lamb (Eds.),...
  • L.L. Berry et al.

    Marketing services. Competing through quality

    (1991)
  • K. Boulding

    The world as a total system

    (1985)
  • Bramwell, B., & Lane, B. (Ed.), (1993). Rural tourism and sustainable rural development. Proceedings of the second...
  • Bramwell, B., & Lane, B. (Ed.). (2000). Tourism collaboration and partnerships: politics, practice and sustainability....
  • R. Burroughs

    When Stakeholders chooseprocess, knowledge and motivation in water quality decisions

    Society and Natural Resources

    (1999)
  • Camagni, R. (Ed.), (1991). Innovation networks: Spatial perspectives. London:...
  • P. Cook et al.

    The associational economyfirms, regions and innovation

    (1998)
  • Corporate Communications Strategy (2002). National Park Management Plan,...
  • J.W. Creswell

    Qualitative inquiry and research design. Choosing five traditions

    (1998)
  • Crompton, J. L. (1987). Doing more with less in the delivery of recreation and park services : a case book of case...
  • Department for International Development (DFID). (1999). Changing the nature of tourism (pp. 44–79). London:...
  • F.R. Dwyer et al.

    Developing Buyer – Seller Relationships

    Journal of Marketing

    (1987)
  • M. Granovetter

    Economic action and social structureThe problem of embeddedness

    American Journal of Sociology

    (1985)
  • M.S. Granovetter

    The strength of weak ties

    American Journal of Sociology

    (1973)
  • B. Gray

    Conditions facilitating Inter-organisational Collaboration

    Human Relations

    (1985)
  • C. Gronroos

    Marketing redefined

    Management Decision

    (1990)
  • Gummesson, E. (1995). Relationsmarknadsfoering: Fraan 4P till 30R. Liber-Hermods, Malmo. In: R. J. Brodie, N. E....
  • Gummesson, E. (1997). Relationship marketing—The Emperor's new clothes or a paradigm shift? Marketing and Research...
  • Cited by (200)

    • Tourism destination brokers: A network analytic approach

      2022, Annals of Tourism Research
      Citation Excerpt :

      Such improvements are derived from reducing transaction costs and generating added value (Fuglsang & Eide, 2013; Tinsley & Lynch, 2001). Therefore, by organising and combining relationships between companies, participation in a tourism destination network can generate crucial competitive advantages (Saxena, 2005). Several researchers have sought to construct destination management models that can enable knowledge sharing among companies, thereby increasing cooperation (Fyall et al., 2012).

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text