Cooperation networks in tourism and hospitality: an analysis applied to health and wellness tourism product in Portugal

This chapter aims to characterize health and wellness cooperation networks in Portugal, identifying cooperation habits, relationship structure, and tourism and hospitality stakeholder’s perception of the importance of network structures at the local and regional levels. To attain this objective, a quantitative approach was chosen, using structured questionnaires for the Portuguese thermal spa managers. Despite all cases establishing some degree of cooperative relationships, the results obtained demonstrated differences in quantity, diversity, and types of relationships established among public and private stakeholders. Based on the evidence obtained, it is also concluded that cooperation relationships are seen by the interviewees as a good path to organizations that operate in inland and low-density territories, presented, most of the times, as “weaker” in base resources for development, where the building capacity of organizations should be closely linked to “integrated strategies of valorization of resources,” and this orientation differentiates the elaboration and placing of the tourism product in the market. As presented in the Portugal’s Tourism Strategy 2027, this is a strategic axis of action that involves the consolidation of “networks and connectivity” that facilitate cross-sectoral promotion and the affirmation of “strategic assets” of Portuguese tourism.