Structural social capital and hotel performance: is there a link?

This paper attempts to fill three gaps how to: (i) operationalize the concept of structural social capital (SSC) for hotels; (ii) compare the effectiveness of different SSC measures at collective level; (iii) observe the ability of SSC to influence organizational performance.Six hypotheses were tested using the Livigno (Italy) hotel sector (84 cases). The results suggest that SSC is the strongest positive determinant of hotel performance, compared with weaker and generally not significant relations linking occupancy and control variables (category, size, location). The work shows the multifaceted nature of SSC.The topological network structure appears to be the powerful lever to manage seasonality for both well and poorly located hotels. In fact the correlation between SSC and performance is higher in off-peak periods. Findings confirm that social capital is a valuable asset, able to impact on performance. We conclude by identifying some research gaps.