The Interaction Between Entrepreneurs and the Public Sector in Tourism: an institutional neocorporatist analysis of Huelva City (Spain)

Abstract

In tourism research topics such as planning, community participation, policy description and evaluation are important and widely discussed. However, considering the importance of entrepreneurs for tourism and its need for the public sector as a provider of infrastructure and financing as well as a mediator of conflicting interests of civil society interests, tourism research needs to advance in the understanding of the interaction between tourism entrepreneurs and public sector. This study analyzes the interaction between tourism entrepreneurs and the public sector in the tourism public policies, studying the city of Huelva, Spain, which is in early stages of tourism organization and with significant public sector interaction with entrepreneurs. From a theoretical framework linking neocorporatism, collaborative governance and institutionalism with public policies tourism, we ran interviews with three leading public sector representatives and seven leading entrepreneurs of the cit. Analysis through Grounded Theory showed that entrepreneurs and public sector recognized their mutual dependence. The public sector strives to minimize the costs of its bounded rationality about business issues, while entrepreneurs strive to increase destination promotion and infrastructure. Finally, the variables path dependence, activities of entrepreneur’s associations, beliefs, and internal interaction (between entrepreneur and between public sector organizations) also emerged as relevant in the interaction between tourism entrepreneurs and the public sector.