Network Resource Mobilization in Community-Based Tourism Social Entrepreneurship

The utilization of networks for resource mobilization is endorsed in the literature on Tourism Social Entrepreneurship. Nonetheless, the characteristics of these networks that are critical for resource mobilization remain unknown. In this study, the aim is to determine how community-based Tourism Social Entrepreneurship networks, at a structural and compositional level, maximize the mobilization of various network resources. A total of 92 tourism social entrepreneurs from four tourism communities in Peru have been analyzed using Social Network Analysis. These networks have collected contacts of value for the development of entrepreneurship and have clarified their relational patterns. The results show that the two classic perspectives of individual and collective social capital are key for resource mobilization. Broad networks with few connections are required for tangible resources, and dense networks based on mutual trust are needed for intangible resources. For affective resources, the focus is on increasing the number of contacts.