Leveraging tourism social capital: the case of the 2010 Olympic tourism consortium

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore social capital emerging from the collective set of activities pursued by a network of stakeholders leveraging tourism benefits from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games (the Games). Design/methodology/approach - A case study of an Olympic tourism consortium (the Consortium) established to garner tourism benefits from the Games illustrates the forms of social capital development emerging from this initiative. A three-phased research process involving a literature review, key informant interviews with Consortium stakeholders, and a follow-up on-line survey with these representatives informs the study's data collection and analysis process. Aspects of bonding, bridging and linking social capital creation are examined. Findings - Varying levels of confidence, trust, mutual respect, personal ties, shared values, and human capacity were generated through the Consortium's activities. This social capital was perceived as a valuable but fragile legacy capable of nurturing increased leadership and organizational capacity particularly when tackling issues confronting the industry's overall sustained prosperity. They also felt that the value and momentum of the social capital legacy might be imperiled by a limited appreciation of how to effectively activate it in a post-Games environment. Practical implications - Insights are provided into the social capital that networks of stakeholders can generate when working collectively to leverage benefits from sport mega-events such as the Games. Originality/value - The research contributes to emerging discussions concerning social capital leveraging in tourism related sport mega-event management settings.