INTERNET SITE OF TOURISM DESTINATION AS AN INDICATOR OF PUBLIC PRIVATE COOPERATION LEVEL. THE CASE OF WEST POMERANIAN COASTAL COMMUNES Adam Pawlicz Faculty of Management and Economics of Services University of Szczecin

Study goal Evaluate the cooperation level between public and private actors in the coastal communes of West Pomeranian Province

Cooperation between tourism enterprises and public sector Tourism enterprises which are formally independent of one another, in fact are bound to social and economic network [Grangsjö; ] Notion of co-opetition Weaknesses of small firms are exacerbated due to their peripheral location [Morrison; ]

Promotion of tourism destinations Is often considered as a public good Rationale for public support is not questioned in literature Still, private participation is desirable in order to keep all information up-to-date and assure involvement of all parties which contribute to the total tourism product of a destination

IT and public private cooperation in tourism Incorporation of ITs in small and medium hospitality operators is not always a rational managerial decision [Buhalis and Main; ] Collaborative commerce (c-commerce) may vastly facilitate processes of both vertical and horizontal collaboration and co-opetition between small and medium tourism organizations [Rowe and Pease; 33-47]

Web site as a cooperation platform Websites can target multiple segments, easily change its content, gather contact information, provide links and finally communicate public relations information [Kolb, 274] Umbrella campaign

Coastal Communes of West Pomerania Province

Public Private Cooperation Index

PPCI for coastal communes in West Pomeranian Province

Limitation and conclusions Cooperation level between private and public actors in tourism industry in coastal communes is significantly higher than in the mainland PPCI does not include qualitaty of a Web site Further research may include incorporation of a Web site to the Destination Management System of a commune

Thank You for your attention! Aciu!