Social Relations Networks of Tourism Microenterprises Operating on the Rural Areas. Case Study of Building Social Capital

In the modern world building social capital by enterprises is supported by new technologies, which eliminate the barriers of distance between the partners forming the relationship. However the basis for functioning of the microenterprises is still their relationship with their closest environment, which is usually the local community. This is particularly important in the tourism industry, especially in the case of agrotouristic companies. The specificity of this type of business requires building trust not limited to the relation: service provider - consumer, but also connected with building customer's confidence to the social space in which he resides. As a consequence, there is the need to maintain neighborly relations by the owners of tourism microenterprises. These types of companies are usually family businesses, often operating in the rural areas. For this reason, they are supported in various forms by extended family members who live in a close proximity. It can be assumed that such configuration of social relations facilitates building strong and sustainable social capital. The authors of the paper present the results of pilot studies, which attempt to answer the question of the form of a network of relationships created around the tourism microenterprises. The research was conducted at the beginning of 2017, on the area of chosen rural villages of the Krakow-Czestochowa Upland.