Destination organisations’ collaboration in developing and sustaining air services

Destination collaboration is deemed critical for tourism recovery, particularly after periods of crisis like COVID-19. This paper explores destination-based tactics and collaborations when pursuing air services. An online database and interviews with industry practitioners reveals that “market research and intelligence”, “collaboration and relationship building”, and “administrative support and regulatory compliance guidance” are practiced but not documented in the extant literature. Destination organizations including airports, government agencies, tourism authorities, and travel trade businesses make distinctive contributions, and smaller airports engage closely with the travel trade. Our findings extend the application of stakeholder theory to the field with more empirical evidence and address shortcomings in air service development interpretations. A more comprehensive definition of air service development has also been proposed.