New inter-organizational forms: Evolution of relationship structures in mountain tourism

The aim of this paper is to develop a better understanding of network relationships in local tourism clusters and illustrate inter‐organizational forms in mountain tourism. The networking among mountain tourism resorts, aimed at solving organizational and technological shortfalls, in order to promote integrated but flexible tourist packages, has led to detailed empirical research and study on these topics. The research analysis considered three important Italian Alpine destinations, based on adjacency matrices graphics and analytical indicators, calculated by different algorithms for each variable. The research was based on questionnaires submitted to all tourism operators of these destinations, and in‐depth interviews with important local entrepreneurs. The main findings of the research have resulted in identifying four typical inter‐organizational forms (or structures) in Alpine tourism resorts: ▪ community model, each tourist operator works alone, with no inter‐organizational vision; ▪ corporative model, a highly concentrated organization based on recognised agreements, usually ontrolled by a few people; ▪ governed model, tourists are managed through associations or ‘equity systems’, such as consortiums, where each ‘node’ of the network offers entrepreneurial expertise; ▪ constellation model, high relational density and reciprocal trust allow good coordination and balance of power among the tourism enterprises.