Organizational Networking in an Emerging Ecotourism Destination

This paper presents the results of a study of planned ecotourism destination development in an economically marginal rural area on the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. The initiative, which was funded primarily from European Union sources, was administered by a network consisting of representatives of local authorities, national tourism bodies, regional and rural development groups, and ecotourism providers. The paper focuses on the organizational network and its networking in promoting ecotourism. At the end of the pilot project the network ceased to function actively, reflecting the short-term nature of some funding-led organizational forms. However, a range of benefits arose in terms of increased awareness of ecotourism and the potential of the selected area for this form of tourism, incorporation of ecotourism into policy documents and the emergence of a provider-led ecotourism promotional group. The experience suggests that even short-term networking can have more positive outcomes than is sometimes recognized.