Relational Governance in Fragmented Tourism Destinations: Brokerage and the Role of Family Firms

Salvatore Iannolino, Rodolfo Baggio, Giovanni Ruggieri , Antonio Purpura — Fri, 30 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Purpose – Tourism destinations are frequently characterized by fragmented structures composed of numerous small and medium-sized firms that must cooperate despite the absence of formal governance mechanisms or dominant coordinating actors. While brokerage theory explains how certain actors bridge disconnected groups, it primarily conceptualizes brokerage as a structural network position and pays limited attention to the relational resources that sustain its capacity. Likewise, studies on destination governance have acknowledged the importance of relational governance but have only partially explored how family firms contribute to informal coordination processes. This study integrates brokerage theory, relational governance, and family business research to examine how brokerage contributes to coordination in fragmented tourism destinations and how kinship ties reinforce its ability as a mechanism of relational governance in contexts lacking formal coordinating institutions.

Design/methodology/approach – The study adopts a longitudinal case study design focusing on the tourism destination of San Vito Lo Capo (Southern Italy), a destination characterized by endogenous development, a predominance of locally embedded family firms, and the absence of a dominant destination management organization. Social Network Analysis (SNA) is used to reconstruct the evolution of interorganizational relationships by analyzing both commercial and kinship networks over time. Network indicators, including density, cohesion, modularity, community structure, and brokerage positions, are employed to examine changes in network structure and the relationship between commercial and family-based brokerage. Rather than testing causal relationships, the analysis investigates whether the observed evolution of network structures is consistent with the interpretation of brokerage as a mechanism of relational governance reinforced by kinship ties.

Originality/value – The findings reveal a progressive increase in the overlap between commercial and kinship networks, together with a stronger association between commercial and family brokerage roles. Building on previous research, particularly Ruggieri et al. (2022), the study provides longitudinal empirical support for understanding brokerage as a mechanism of relational governance. Its originality lies in the two-wave network design, the specific measurement of brokerage, and the joint analysis of commercial and inter-firm kinship networks.

Practical implications – The findings suggest that family firms may play a strategic governance role in destinations where formal coordinating institutions are weak or absent by strengthening brokerage capacity through trust, reputation, and long-term social embeddedness. Destination managers and policymakers should therefore recognize and engage locally embedded brokers when promoting collaborative governance initiatives. At the same time, governance strategies should balance the coordinating benefits of strong relational embeddedness with the risks of network closure and excluding actors not embedded in established social and family networks.

Garden tourism visitor profiling: a weighted key informant approach from the Borromean Gulf, Lake Maggiore

Barbara Dell'Era — Fri, 30 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0100

Purpose - his study examines perceived visitor profiles and motivations within the garden tourism niche of the Borromean Gulf, Lake Maggiore, Italy, during the 2024–2025 period. It addresses a methodological and managerial problem: destinations often need to understand evolving niche demand without access to disaggregated visitor-level data. The paper therefore has a dual aim. First, it provides an exploratory, guide-reported demand profile of heritage garden visitors, highlighting perceived shifts in international source markets, demand dynamics and emerging motivational segments. Second, it evaluates whether the localized interpretive competence and field knowledge of certified tour guides can function both as a strategic destination capability and as a structured key informant source for destination intelligence.

Design/methodology/approach - to capture aggregate demand trends without direct visitor surveys, this paper adopts a qualitative-exploratory research design using a provisional, volume-based weighting protocol. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 certified local tour guides who collectively mediate an estimated volume exceeding 100,000 annual visits across the primary botanical and historic gardens of the Borromean Gulf, Lake Maggiore. Rather than treating all informant accounts equally, the qualitative insights, thematic observations, and demographic guide-reported assessments provided by each guide were subjected to an exploratory weighting scheme based on estimated mediated visitor volumes. The data were then analyzed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA) to identify dominant patterns, perceived market shifts, and behavioural segments as reported by the informants. This approach allows the study to transform highly specialized qualitative field observations from key informants into an exploratory overview of guide-reported market demand dynamics. All quantitative estimates presented in this study are exploratory and guide-reported rather than derived from verified visitor-level data. Qualitative findings represent professional perceptions and field interpretations rather than direct measurements of tourist behaviour.

Originality/value - This study offers an application of the Resource-Based View (RBV) and VRIO framework to localized human capital in niche tourism. Methodologically, it introduces an exploratory, replicable and cost-effective alternative to mass visitor surveys. This complementary approach is particularly suited to resource-constrained regional destinations lacking official attraction-level data.

Practical implications - the findings reveal three emerging dynamics perceived by the guides: an increase in the weighted informant estimate of North American visitors, which informants suggest may be linked to destination substitution from overtouristed Lake Como; a consolidated senior female wellness segment which guides perceive as having above-average discretionary spending capacity and a resilient relational loyalty dynamic perceived by informants to be stabilizing DACH B2B channels. Practically, these insights enable destination management organisations (DMOs) to optimize marketing strategies, tailor guiding services, and discuss options to mitigate overtourism through strategic dispersal.

Turistica - Italian Journal of Tourism

Relational Governance in Fragmented Tourism Destinations: Brokerage and the Role of Family Firms

Garden tourism visitor profiling: a weighted key informant approach from the Borromean Gulf, Lake Maggiore