The Dolomites: tourism governance and multi-level networks

The coordination of tourism stakeholders within a destination is key to ensuring effective tourism governance, and networks and networking around a central Destination Management Organisation (DMO) have been pointed out by tourism management literature as powerful instruments and processes to govern the destinations. The present case chapter wants to take a closer look at such a phenomenon by following the governance process of the Dolomites, a mountain area in northern Italy. The establishment of a DMO, the consolidation of the relationships among the actors of the destination, and the development of a marketing strategy were all steps in this process; however, by reading the relationships through a multi-level network lens, the authors explain the partial failure of such initiatives with the lack of attention to the micro-level actors of the destination, tourism businesses, and operators.