Emergence and Spread of an All-Inclusive System in the Turkish Tourism Sector and Strategic Responses of Accommodation Firms

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of environmental pressures on the emergence and spread of the all-inclusive system (AIS) in the Turkish tourism sector, and the strategic responses given by accommodation firms in the Antalya region. Accommodation firms face pressures from external actors (institutional perspective), while also being dependent on other organizations (resource dependence perspective) in ensuring the smooth performance of their activities under the conditions of high environmental uncertainty. An integrated perspective of neo-institutional theory and resource-dependence theory is employed to examine the national, institutional and organizational contexts that are assumed to be influential in the emergence and spread of AIS, with both qualitative and quantitative research methods being used. The major findings of the study indicate that economic and political changes in the national context; coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures in the institutional context; and strategic responses of accommodation firms to environmental pressures in the organizational context have been influential in the emergence and spread of AIS. The study concludes with a summary of the theoretical and practical implications, and suggestions for future research.