Personal Networks as a Source for Social Capital in the Rural Communities of Maramures

The purpose of this paper is to analyze personal networks developed by guesthouse owners from rural Maramures as a source for social capital. We are questioning the relevance of the economic factor to guesthouse owners and the role it plays in establishing borders and openings of their personal networks. In trying to identify functional interdependencies, we wonder whether the rural tourism from Maramures subjects the relationship among rural guesthouse owners to an exercise in reflexivity To test this argument, we want to know whether the rural world is able to align itself with modernity by assuming the power of individual action, by a rationalization of the actions of tourist rural actors called here "tourist entrepreneurs". Where does a relationship end for guesthouse owners when they relate to other tourist entrepreneurs? Does tourism generate conflicts among these people, exclusion, and antagonism or, on the contrary solidarity? Can we talk about solidarity born from professional practices? What element prevails in establishing personal networks: kinship, neighbourhood, friendship or obligation deriving from a superior status?