ABSTRACT
Academic research has analysed the role and benefits of a strategic approach to business partnerships and suggested suitable forms and strategies. The literature discussed and documented the need for collaboration and its contribution within the highly competitive tourism business environment. Industry best practices suggest that cooperation and collaboration contribute to designing, managing, and marketing tourism experiences. Most importantly, this issue constitutes a pressing and key challenge in the field of experiential and nature-based tourism. This chapter capitalizes on extant literature to discuss and elaborate on a framework for effectively managing business networking. The chapter aims to analyse and determine the prerequisites and key factors for achieving successful and sustainable business networking in the field of nature-based tourism. In order to address the research aim, this chapter takes the perspective of small businesses at local destinations. It explores the perceptions of key stakeholders and businesspersons regarding the necessary conditions and key factors to design and implement business networking. This study first suggests a set of prerequisites and key elements for successful business networking at the destination level. The suggested framework for networking was empirically tested and validated within the Chinese context, the study area being Longwu Town, Zhejiang Province (SE China), by implementing a qualitative research method. The study’s findings allowed us to form a comprehensive and integrated set of key issues and elements to consider. Clear and specific aims and conditions determine suitable strategies and adequate actions. The study also indicates the key elements for the effective and sustainable operation of nature-based tourism networking. It provides practical guidance and insights into prerequisites for implementing and managing the collaborative networking strategy in nature-based/experiential tourism, an integrated management approach to attain desirable outcomes.
