Understanding how collaborative governance mediates rural tourism and sustainable territory development: a systematic literature review

The relationship between rural tourism (RT) and sustainable territory development (STD) depends on formal and informal relationships. There is uncertainty in these relationships. Collaborative governance (CG) could explain this relationship and address the influence of RT on STD. This paper aims to understand how CG mediates the relationship between RT and STD. A systematic literature review was carried out using a mixed sequential approach, starting with the definition of the search equation. A total of 324 records were analysed to determine the knowledge map of the relationship between RT, CG and STD. The quantitative approach was the input for the qualitative approach, where 63 documents were selected with the PRISMA methodology and analysed with the Grounded Theory. The main contribution was the construction of a theoretical model that explains how CG mediates the relationship between RT and STD with the capacity for joint action. Networks, endogeneity, and empowerment influence elements in the capacity for joint action, which in turn influences procedural/institutional arrangements, leadership, knowledge, and resources for the environmental, sociocultural, and economic dimensions of STD. This approach is conceptually tentative in nature, and theoretical development is needed with additional research from empirical case studies conducted in diverse scenarios in countries with different regimes.