Building tourism's resilience through relational capital

Although tourism has been deeply challenged, it has always shown an adaptive resilience. Previous studies have recognised a material bond between touristic businesses’ resilience and their relational capital (RC). This work qualitatively investigates how RC can support the accommodations’ adaptive resilience to overcome dramatic scenarios (RQ). The authors use a qualitative approach by applying a longitudinal case study. Data are acquired through a semi-structured interview directly placed with the founder of an Italian hotel group that spreads national hospitality worldwide. Findings are interpreted by applying the dynamic CAOS model, considering two different moments: before and during the pandemic crisis. The study shows that RC’s management has to be flexible to adapt to the new markets’ needs, still respecting the company’s structural characteristics. The research enriches the literature exploring the intellectual capital’s contribution to developing companies’ resilience, mainly focusing on the RC’s relevance to tourism.