Bonding and Bridging Forms of Social Capital in Wildlife Tourism Microentrepreneurship: An Application of Social Network Analysis

Birendra Kc, Duarte B. Morais, Erin Seekamp, Jordan W. Smith and M. Nils Peterson
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Birendra Kc: Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203, USA
Duarte B. Morais: Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Erin Seekamp: Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Jordan W. Smith: Department of Environment and Society, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA
M. Nils Peterson: Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 2, 1-17

Abstract: Tourism has been recognized as an important economic sector, requiring a high degree of involvement from the entrepreneurial sector to diversify tourism products and services to meet increasing demand. Tourism is often considered a tool for economic development and a strategy to improve the livelihoods of rural citizens. Specifically, nature-based tourism, such as wildlife tourism, is growing faster than tourism in general, providing a myriad of opportunities for small-scale entrepreneurial engagement. However, several obstacles exist for these small-scale tourism enterprises, such as a lack of social capital. This study examined a network of wildlife tourism microentrepreneurs for bonding and bridging forms of social capital using a social network analysis approach, where bonding and bridging social capital have their own interpretation. Thirty-seven in-person interviews were conducted with wildlife tourism microentrepreneurs from North Carolina’s Pamlico Sound Region. The study revealed that microentrepreneurs interacted with each other in a bridging network structure. The ability to reciprocate with other members of the network was essential for business success. The results identified four key bridging ties connecting potential sub-groups in the network, connected to each other in a redundant fashion. We concluded that the formation of a bridging network structure was a function of entrepreneurial phenomena that may not promote a highly trusted, well-connected network. The findings and implications are further discussed in the paper.

Keywords: wildlife tourism; microentrepreneurship; social capital; bonding; bridging; social network analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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