A tourist destination, as a collective of actors trying to act together, faces the challenges of shaping a common future and self-determining its development path. This depends on its actors' capacity to act towards collective goals. Social capital (SC) theory explains how resources are mobilised for common purposes, representing a key notion for understanding collective action. Non-tourism-and tourism-related literature on SC were analysed, finding that SC theory is used mostly as a means to study other aspects in tourism. Little has been discussed about SC itself as the object of interest. This article, therefore (1) identifies the key dimensions and levels of scope of a tourist destination's SC, and (2) presents a structured assessment framework as the basis to reflect upon the improvement of the destination's capacity for self-determination. The article contributes to tourist destination's SC theory building and as the basis for further research on the subject.

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Tourism is widely recognized as a complex phenomenon. Some academics, however, have studied tourism from their own specialization, contributing from the perspective of their specific fields. Others have argued that the complexities of tourism should be tackled more systemically and so have used diverse concepts from systems thinking theory. Nevertheless, nobody has yet presented an integrated framework connecting existing diverse systems thinking concepts, which serves as a more structured point of departure from which to study tourism. This article (1) starts by identifying seven complexities of tourism, (2) discusses eight systems thinking's key notions in the context of those complexities, (3) structures an integrated tourism systems thinking conceptual framework, and (4) provides an application example. Thus, this work contributes with a more structured theoretical foundation for the study of tourism as a system and with an integrated approach to understand its complexities.

SAŽETAK: Zajednicama domaćinima glavni je cilj destinaciju učiniti što boljom kako bi privukla željene međunarodne posjetitelje i to na način koji je usklađen s razvojnim ciljevima lokalne zajednice. Da bi se to postiglo, neophodno je da svi dionici iz raznih sektora i na različitim lokacijama rade na postizanju zajedničkih ciljeva. Naši su ciljevi: istražiti kako povećati društveni kapital destinacije u cilju ulaska na međunarodna tržišta; testirati integrativni model (iModel) koji se zasniva na sistemskom mišljenju; razmotriti odnos između sistemskog mišljenja, turizma i društvenog kapitala. U ovome radu istražujemo primjer Područja biosfere masiva Cajas (CMBA) u južnom Ekvadoru, čije je emitivno tržište Njemačka. Ulazak na drugo tržište u većoj je mjeri određen unutarnjim kolektivnim kapacitetima nego vanjskim uvjetima. Ti se kapaciteti mogu dodatno potaknuti povećanjem društvenog kapitala za što je potrebna pomoć svih dionika. KLJUČNE RIJEČI: turistička destinacija, društveni kapital, sistemsko mišljenje, ulazak na međunarodno tržište, iModel ABSTRACT: Enhancing a destination to attract the desired international visitors and ensuring that those enhancements align with local development goals is a major aim for host communities. Thus, it is necessary that actors from diverse sectors and at different locations work towards common goals. Our aims are: to explore how to enhance a destination's Social Capital (SC) to access international markets; to test a Systems Thinking (ST) based Integrative Model (iModel); and, to discuss the relationship between ST, tourism and SC. The Cajas Massif Biosphere Area (CMBA), in southern Ecuador, is the destination case study. The source market is Germany. Market access is more determined by internal collective capacities than by external conditions. These capacities can be fuelled by enhancing SC. A facilitating actor is key for such enhancement.

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