With a little help from my Region: Coopetition in regional development and the creation of tourism social value in low-density territories

This paper analysed the role of coopetition in increasing the efficacy of regional tourism development in low-density territories to enhance social value creation, addressing research gaps related to its role in fragile regional contexts, its connection with regional development, and its link to Resource Dependence Theory. We applied a mix of quantitative methods. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the model, the PROCESS model to verify the mediated effects, and a robustness check was performed using Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA). We collected data from tourism stakeholders in the LDT of the Douro River region of Portugal. Findings reveal that regional tourism development is a necessary but not sufficient condition for creating social value. In contrast, coopetition is a determinant and a necessary condition. Results indicated that coopetition, expressed by the level of coopetition mindset, the regional integration system or associationism and the Co-production, enhances regional tourism by reducing resource dependence and fostering inclusive growth. The regional tourism development was expressed by the connected regional sustainability, regional leveraging, territorial progress, regional innovation, and economic revitalisation. Coopetition fully mediated the relationship between regional tourism development and the social value created, influencing social change, cultural safeguards, social belonging, quality of life, and social cohesion. Implications suggest that coopetition is a drive for improving the benefits to the host society and a mechanism for reducing resource dependence. Our framework, Coopetition-based on regional development at the Low-Density Territory, advances knowledge, demonstrating that coopetition concretises key Resource Dependence Theory (RDT) concepts.