Tourism collaborative governance: The views of tourism small and medium-sized enterprises in rural areas

It is recognised that collaborative governance of­fers better solutions to problems than those fashioned exclu­sively by government agencies. Collaborative governance in­volves several relevant parties, particularly in the travel and tourism sector. The integrative processes of collaborative governance in the tourism industry provide a direct face-to-face alternative, leading to thorough and comprehensive stra­tegic planning. Recent tourism governance research has ex­plored the role of multiple actors in governing destinations but has not comprehensively investigated the role that tour­ism small and medium-sized enterprises play as important stakeholders at rural tourism destinations. Since tourism small and medium-sized enterprises are critical players in tourism collaborative governance, there is a need for an eval­uation of the role they play in this context. This study ex­plores the opinions of tourism small and medium-sized en­terprises regarding collaborative governance at rural tourism destinations. The study adopted a qualitative research ap­proach and employed a purposive sampling method, a non-probability sampling technique to select participants. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The results of the investigation indicate that tour­ism small and medium-sized enterprises recognise the need for their participation in tourism collabo­rative governance, the necessity of knowledgeable conveners, the importance of equal voices during stakeholder meetings, and mutual trust among stakeholders as essential components of effective col­laborative governance. The study recommends active and equitable community participation, build­ing mutual trust among stakeholders, and promoting effective collaboration between all parties in­volved in tourism collaborative governance.