Unpacking the temporal dimension of coopetition in tourism destinations: evidence from Finnish and Italian theme parks

Coopetition, namely the co-presence of cooperation and competition, is a new strategy that goes beyond the established business paradigms of competition and cooperation. This type of strategy is relevant in tourism destinations, for instance in theme parks, where competing, co-located companies also collaborate. In this paper, we address the temporal dynamics of interorganizational relationships in Finnish and Italian theme parks (i.e. Lapland and Riviera Romagnola). Our comparative study shows that cooperation and coopetition among tourism businesses often shift from a prevalently short-term basis to a long term one when public and private stakeholders understand the benefits accruing to cooperation in terms of enhancement of the brand image of the destination and attraction of a higher number of visitors, by leveraging the destination’s multifaceted assets.