An evaluation of power relationships among stakeholders in the tourism industry networks of Agra, India

Abstract

Tourism-related businesses require a multitude of resources in order to operate successfully and given these resources can be accrued from more than one source, bases of power become complex. This is an inductive study which critically evaluates the application of stakeholder theory to an analysis of the tourism destination networks of Agra, India. It examines the relationships of power and dependency that exist between individual and group organisations and the way in which they motivate their behaviour towards each other. The key findings show that resource-based power is formed from the power of individual businesses, the power of the ancillary services stakeholders and the power of the authorities and that network-based power is acquired from the power of agents and the power of groups.