Abstract

ii Over the last decade, increasing attention has been given to the networking in the tourism industry (Lynch, 2000; Pavlovich, 2003). The existing literature mainly focuses on the interrelationships among tourism stakeholders at sector level and the structure of the interorganizational networks in tourism industry. However, little research has been done to examine the possible antecedents and outcomes of the tourism networks and the interrelationships between the network structures at different subject level (i.e., interpersonal and interorganizational) and in different social contexts (i.e., online and offline). The purpose of this study is to address these research gaps by empirically examining the networks in a tourism destination. Choosing Charleston, South Carolina as the study area, this study included three phases of data collection and analysis. A series of in-depth interviews with the Charleston Area Convention and Visitor Bureau (CACVB) staff were first conducted for the development of the survey instrument. An online self-administrated survey was then