Social Networks for the Analysis of Tourist Clusters

Abstract

This article underlines the importance of social networks —conceived as the set of individual and collective relations around a public problem— for the analysis of tourist clusters. These are understood as a system that organizes the tourist activity of a region where various local actors involved in it are articulated. Social networks allow for analyzing the density, position and importance of the actors in the network, as well as the internal and external relations to the cluster. The preceding is fundamental to understand how the actors interact, cooperate, learn and generate knowledge, in order to formulate viable proposals in accordance with the reality
of a tourist destination. This article aims to expand the understanding of the clusters, not only as a strategy for the management of tourist destinations, but also as a space that opens the possibility for collaboration and coordination between the actors involved. It is concluded that this expanded understanding allows to identify the possibilities or obstacles in the fulfillment of the purposes of the tourist cluster.