"Networking within tourism destinations hinders innovation and freedom of choice." Critically discuss this statement

Tourism, like so many modern industries, is essentially an assembly process. In few situations does one organisation or company control all the components, or all the stages and decision-making processes in the creation and delivery of the tourism product.
That is why in most industrial sectors and particularly in the tourism industry, it has become commonplace for organisations to collaborate in order to achieve the goals they have established for themselves.
“A key reason for the growing interest in collaboration in tourism is the belief that organizations and destination areas may be able to gain competitive advantage by bringing together and sharing their combined knowledge, expertise, capital and other resources” (Kotler et al., 1999b).
Does networking within tourism destinations hinder innovation and freedom of choice?
First it is necessary to define the key words in the question above, the key words being, tourism destinations, innovation and freedom of choice. Before talking about tourism networking, I will show that tourism destinations do not hinder innovation and freedom of choice. Finally I will present my research on networking in tourism, based on the fact that it is essential for a tourism destination in particular for SME’s. I will also discuss the idea that it hinders innovation and freedom of choice by comparing the potential problems and benefits of networking.

[...] The need to develop consensus and the need to disclose new ideas in advance, might discourage entrepreneurial development and by the way innovation. The vested interests and established practices of the multiple stakeholders involved in collaborative working may block innovation. C. Potential benefits against innovation and freedom of choice of tourism networking In my introduction, the quotation of Kotler perfectly reflects the benefits which actors can gain, thanks to the network. These benefits are large. The best way to prove that networking within tourism destinations allow for innovations and freedom of choice is by showing the reverse of the disadvantages quoted beforehand. [...]

[...] Tourism destinations do not hinder innovation and freedom of choice Before targeting my research on networking within tourism destinations and discussing the fact that it hinders innovation and freedom of choice, it seems important to show as a prerequisite that tourism destinations don’t hinder innovation and freedom of choice. In order to prove this affirmation, I will rest on the definition of Copper et al (1993) who defined a destination as 4”A’s”. To complete this definition, I will add the community. [...]

[...] In this way, it is not justified to believe that networking within tourism destinations hinder innovation and freedom of choice. To conclude, all the actors of a tourist destination are concerned with innovation. In order to handle the increase in competition in the tourist sector and accommodate the growing demand for a quality experience by the tourist, the actors have collaborated with one another to create a comprehensive network system. This has allowed SME’s, who are the majority in the tourism sector, to correspond with each other in order to alleviate the constant waiting of the tourists, thus creating the conditions necessary to be highly competitive. [...]