Focusing on Knowledge Exchange: The Role of Trust in Tourism Networks

It has long been recognised that an organisation’s ability to acquire and use external knowledge is related to its level of innovativeness. As others have shown, the acquisition of knowledge is often tied to networks of relationships, on different spatial scales, between those working in similar or quite different organisations. Not surprisingly, public policy-makers responsible for tourism development have invested resources in establishing and nurturing relationships between themselves and other actors and, in recognition of the importance of peer-to-peer learning, have facilitated networks between actors within particular destinations. This chapter explores what has become seen as a critical element in productive tourism knowledge networks, namely the trust shared between actors. Following a brief review of the literature on knowledge transfer (or exchange), it does so by assessing competing and complementary conceptualisations of trust and considering their potential influence on knowledge flows. The chapter concludes by arguing that as public policy-makers and tourism organisations look to the future, they would do well to reflect upon strategies for generating trust if they are to encourage greater learning and innovation.