ABSTRACT
Interest in collaborative alliances as a management strategy and as an object of scientific inquiry is on the rise in the tourism field. Rapid economic, social, and political change is providing powerful incentives for tourism interests to recognize their interdependences and to engage in joint decision-making. Whether the issue is multi-national firms, tourism coalitions, or cooperative marketing strategies-collaboration is the common ground linking these recent trends. This paper provides a framework for understanding this trend toward collaborative action. Constraints to collaboration are identified as well as societal forces prompting collaborative responses from tourism stakeholders. Basic assumptions underlying scientific inquiry in this area are outlined and a theoretical process model of collaboration is presented Implications for management strategy and research are discussed.
