Tourism destinations: a network analysis of the Web space

Purpose Complex networks have been extensively studied in the last few years, and an interdisciplinary community of researchers have proposed and investigated a whole series of models with the objective of explaining the relationship between the structural characteristics of a network, its functions and its dynamic evolution. This paper aims at examining how network thinking can help in understanding the interactions between tourism stakeholders within a destination. Methodology Quantitative network analysis methods are used to compare the network characteristics of two tourism destinations: the Fiji Islands and Elba, Italy. The main structural characteristics are measured, both from a static and a dynamic point of view. The network characteristics are compared with some distinctive features of the destinations and with possible evolutionary models. Findings The results show that network topological measurements can be used to highlight the main features of the destination network and of the underlying social and economic system and can provide a way to assess their evolutionary history. Originality/value of paper The paper proposes an original quantitative approach to the study of tourism destinations and to the relationships between their stakeholders