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Most industry players in the tourism sector are small-scale businesses that are prone to failure, especially within five years of establishment. Coopetition can be an innovative alternative strategy that enables small-scale business owners to compete and cooperate in a destination. The qualitative method comprises interviewing business owners and adopting the institutional analysis and development framework for small-scale accommodation in Indonesia and Malaysia. Findings highlight those geographical settings, values and norms as the main contributions of human practices shaping the culture. Moreover, the collectivist attitude provides more opportunities for coopetition, as unity is the main priority of society. The case in Indonesia reveals that local institutions regulate the behaviour, whereas the case in Malaysia shows family kinship in business activities. In general, coopetitive behaviour starts from product marketing to the customer service stage by competing personally but sharing resources if the demand is higher than capability. Accommodation owners can gain guests individually, and if during service, the number of customers exceeds the capacity of the accommodation, the owner will share the guests with other accommodation owners. The symbiosis relationship is where a win-win situation is preferable to ensure that a tourism destination can cater to more demand with limited resources. Although both cases practice coopetition based on the suitability of the cultural and local rules, the interpretation and approach differ.