Abstract and Figures
Cross‐border cooperations have been usually approached from developing trade agreements between international regions to upgrade their socioeconomic conditions and promote international tourism flows in territories. However, few attention has paid to the role that touristic companies play in underprivileged territories highly dependent on tourism. Through the theory of social exchange theoretical implications can be drawn from those territories can be compared to developed regions to understand what role tourism flows play in the reciprocal attitude between touristic companies and visitors. Political implications force tourist authorities to involve companies in promoting their regional tourism resources through detailed in participatory tourism programs. For this, the opinion of companies strongly related to the tourism generated by the Parque Natural Tajo Internacional on both sides of the border between Spain and Portugal have participated in the research to develop tourism on both sides of the border. To collect the data, 126 interviews were carried out with companies among the 53 Spanish and Portuguese companies that participated in the research between January to June, 2022. For data tabulation, version 3.26 of SmartPLS was used. The study concludes that social exchange policies that bring companies and residents closer together favour socioeconomic development in territories that have natural resources and are economically disadvantaged.
