Strategic governance in marina management in the context of clustering in marine tourism: A case of Muğla

In recent years, the added-value provided by the tourism industry, one of the rapidly developing industries on a global level, has provided to the country's economy is steadily increasing. Due to the added-value created by the industry, countries, developing countries in particular, are carrying out various activities in order to supply the tourism services or to diversify tourism services they offer in line with changing consumer needs and demands. This diversifies the services offered in the tourism industry and increases the number of competing destinations. In this competitive environment, the actors in a destination that operate in harmony and cooperative, can increase the success of a destination. In this study, the tourism clusters and strategic governance practices implemented within the cluster are addressed. Within this context, it is aimed to investigate the level of strategic governance practices in the marina managements, operating in the Muğla marine tourism cluster and make recommendations for increasing the level of strategic governance practices in this study. The literatures of clustering, strategic governance and strategic governance in the cluster were extensively examined within the context of the study and an interview form was designed for the purpose of investigating the level of strategic governance practices within the industry. In this context, face to face interview was conducted with the senior managers of the six marinas operating in the area. In consequence of the study, the participants expressed that there is not enough coordination and a common strategy and vision among the actors; that they are partly involved in decision-making processes; that there are contradictions between the regulations concerning the industry. It is possible to state that there is no strategic governance in the industry in accordance with the participants' opinions. It is suggested that a cooperative platform in which all actors in the industry (public institutions, private sector and NGO) should be put in place perform in line with a common vision in order to increase the level of governance. In conclusion, it is possible to say that the proposed cooperative platform will increase the level of strategic governance in the industry. Keywords: Marine tourism, Marina Management, Clustering, Marine tourism cluster, Strategic governance, Muğla