Il turismo sostenibile e il contratto di rete delle masserie pugliesi

Objectives. This paper deals with particular network organisation systems which consider strategic alliances as the core of value generation processes. In the tourist sector each firm must necessarily dialogue with other firms but also with the territory and, in a “macro” perspective, it must be able to compete with firms located and operating in other territories. Synergies that any kind of firm should set up according to the theory of a vital systemic approach result to be a pursuing goal when there are conditions of relationships in a specific territorial context. Methodology. qualitative method by survey. Findings. The network agreement signed by all firms operating in the tourist sector in the Apulia region aims at enforcing and implementing the tourist offer made of attractions, material resources and intangible resources. Research limits. Research is based upon a founded but not proved condition about the fact that a strategic instrument could constitute a significant element for a considerable change of the tourist offer. Practical implications. Network agreement of Apulia country houses, as mean of application of cooperative strategies, determine the increase of tourism stream thanks to a better visibility of the country houses (through an integrated offer) as regards the potential tourism market, and to the mutual return of tourists that belonging to the network con promote each other (through country houses cooperation). Originality of the study. It focuses on the aggregation of limited size entities operating in the tourist sector and made possible through well-established network agreements which would inevitably give value to the authentic characteristics of the territory itself on a large scale.