Power dimensions and influence reputation in tourist destinations: Empirical evidence from a network of actors and stakeholders

Tourism Events and the Nature of Stakeholder Power

“…The findings in this study contradict Beritelli and Laesser's (2011) conclusion, as they denied power stemming from material resources as being important. In fact, this study implies the two types of power may have differential impacts on stakeholder salience.…”

“…Alternatively, Reid and Arcodia (2002) adopted a similar framework to Clarkson (1995), prioritizing primary versus secondary stakeholders based upon their 2007; Reid, 2011;Xue & Mason, 2011) it is clear that staging tourism events requires input and collaboration from numerous actors and stakeholders from the public and private sectors, respectively. Empirical investigations reveal that in the process of managing collaborative tourism activities, power is ubiquitous in every system of relations (see, e.g., Cooper, Scott, & Baggio 2009;Jamal & Getz, 1995;Sheehan, Ritchie, & Hudson, 2007) featuring differences in both the amount and the type of power that different stakeholders hold (Beritelli & Laesser, 2011;Ford, Wang, & Vestal, 2012;Hazra, Fletcher, & Wilkes, 2014;Marzano & Scott, 2009;Reed, 1997). Previous studies have explicitly addressed the concept of power within tourism planning and networks, as well as destination marketing and management, yet only a few studies (e.g., Clarke & Jepson, 2011;Larson, 2002) have analyzed the power relationships within the context of events and festivals.…”

“…A recent study on power distributions in tourism networks by Ford et al (2012) indicated that reputation, allies, and hierarchy were the source of influence. Beritelli and Laesser (2011) and Clarke and Jepson (2011) identified knowledge and competence as resources in the exercise of power. However, mere possession of resources does not make one powerful.…”

“…In contrast, Rowley (1997) has defined stakeholder power in terms of network structure and position. Most tourism studies have examined stakeholder power either using resource dependency theory (see Ford, Peeper, & Gresock, 2009;Getz & Andersson, 2010;Sheehan et al, 2007) or network theory (see Beritelli & Laesser, 2011;Cooper et al, 2009) separately. Pajunen's (2006) insightful integration of resource dependencies and network positions offers a matrix of stakeholder power identification, and provides a valuable framework for studying stakeholder power in tourism.…”

“…Although there is substantial research on the power held by different stakeholders within the context of an organization or a destination (Beritelli & Laesser, 2011;Marzano & Scott, 2009;Nunkoo & Ramkissoon, 2012), there is a paucity of work examining event stakeholders' power. Previous studies examine power networks among event stakeholders but do not examine the different kinds of power that stakeholders (Getz, 2002;Getz et al, 2007;Reid, 2011).…”