Collective Entrepreneurship. Networking as a strategy for business development

The paper addresses the emerging practice of collective entrepreneurship and demonstrate a model of network marketing management in SMEs. The use of cooperation and alliances between local actors has gained increasing attention in the contemporary economy and has been discussed as a strategy for coping with increasing global competition. One example of an area in which this focus has gained acceptance is among actors located in the experience industry and especially in tourist destinations. The focus of this paper is to elaborate on marketing models in a small and medium sized tourism enterprises setting. The problem is considered from the entrepreneurship, marketing and networking perspectives. The result is based on a case study of an horizontal hotel network in the context of a Swedish municipality. In-depth interviews with hotel owners or managers as well as with the local tourism authorities contributed with the main information in the case. The interviews resulted in a visualisation of a powerful web of connections between actors showing the impact of collective entrepreneurship to achieve positive business development. This paper suggests that theories of networks may contribute to a logic that provides a better understanding of contemporary tourist destination marketing practice.