The Camøno: A Communitarian Walking Trail in the Sharing Economy

This paper presents an alternative experiment of building an operative communitarian business model to leverage tourism in Southern Denmark. Coastal communities in Denmark have experienced a steady socioeconomic decline, which has further been aggravated by a stagnating tourism and agricultural sector. Within this context, coastal regions are attempting to harness the potentials of the emerging collaborative economy by experimenting with communitarian business models. Such is the case of a digitally facilitated pilgrim trail in Denmark, the Camøno, which was conceived in 2016 to mobilize sparse and loosely connected local resources to create value for tourists and citizens. The trail sustains over 200 small local actors and attracted over 75.000 visitors after less than a year of operation. Our paper explores the rapid success and consolidation of the Camøno trail by analyzing the performativity of its business model embracing an inclusive, communitarian ideology. The empirical data collection was based on several ethnographic field trips to the islands of Møn, Nyord and Bogø, and entailed interviews with the platform owner (the local museum), several operators as well as walkers. The analysis will shed light on the preconditions, network effects and scaleability of local cooperative business models. In our discussion, we will address how collaborative business models contribute, supplement or conflict with industrial structures and operators in a coastal/rural setting.