Tourism Supply Chain Research Articles

Channel structure and greening in an omni-channel tourism supply chain

Online sales and green investment are two important ways to improve the sustainability of the tourism supply chain under the pandemic. This research constructs an omni-channel tourism supply chain consists of two tourism service providers (i.e., TSPs) and one online travel agent (i.e., OTA). Tourism products are sold to consumers through three online sales channels, including two free channels and one bundled channel. The bundled channel is operated by the OTA, and the free channels can be operated by the TSPs or the OTA. Depending on the free channels operators, we depict four online selling models, i.e., the model where two free channels are operated by the two TSPs (TT model), the models where only one free channel is operated by one TSP (TO and OT models), and the model where two free channels are operated by the OTA (i.e., OO model). Through comparing the four models, we find that if the TSPs are responsible for green investment, model TT is the most profitable and greenest model compared to the other three models when the positive externality of greenness is high. Otherwise if the OTA is responsible for green investment, the profit and greening level of the tourism supply chain in model TT become the lowest. This study provides managerial insights for tourism practitioners to rationally operate tourism supply chain from three aspects: joint decisions of operations and greenness, channel structure design, and greening level improvement.

Price Competition, Experiential Quality and Online Marketing Decisions of a Tourism Supply Chain

ABSTRACT This study examines the price competition, experiential quality and online marketing decisions of a tourism supply chain, consisting of a tourism operator and two online retailers. The equilibrium solutions and the conditions for unique optimal solutions are derived in three supply chain strategies. This study also investigates performance improvement measures, including the operator’s involvement in online marketing and online reviews for quality improvement. An experimental analysis is conducted to compare supply chain performance and provide tourism managerial insights. The investigation provides a reference for tourism policies that could assist in improving experiential quality and operation performance.

COVID-led consumption displacement: A longitudinal analysis of hotel booking patterns

This research contributes to the literature on consumption displacement by exploring the pandemic-led shifts in hotel booking patterns. We perform a longitudinal analysis and a critical comparison of bookings before and after COVID-19 outbreak, focusing on the booking window, length of stay, and booking channel. Data include weekly bookings of a representative sample of Balearic Islands’ hotels between 2018 and 2021. Results indicate that the pandemic has led to a drop in the volume of bookings and a remarkable change in booking patterns. Specifically, we find a temporal shift in booking behavior, characterized by a lower anticipation and a change in the tourism supply chain, namely a decrease in the share of intermediated bookings. The expected increase in the frequency of exogenous shocks, such as weather-related and sanitary crises, could affect purchasing behaviors, thus enhancing the relevance of this study, with managerial implications for industry and destination managers.

Forecasting International Tourism Demand Using the Recurrent Neural Network Model with Genetic Algorithms and ARIMAX Model in Tourism Supply Chains

Forecasting International Tourism Demand Using the Recurrent Neural Network Model with Genetic Algorithms and ARIMAX Model in Tourism Supply Chains

Cloud infrastructure enhancing product competitive advantage of tourism SMEs on online consumption values of tourists

PurposeThis research aimed to examine the role of cloud infrastructure capabilities of tourism small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism supply chain, increasing the online consumption value of tourists.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses stratified random sampling. A value model was formulated, and the study distributed 2,000 surveys; 412 valid responses were received and analyzed using the structural equation modeling approach.FindingsThe cloud-based architecture provides tourism SMEs a competitive advantage in the dynamic tourism market and the ability to develop next-generation system capabilities while providing tourism SMEs with a new application foundation to adapt to the ever-changing tourism market.Originality/valueFor tourism SEMs, the cloud allows adjusting strategies and procedures for tourism supply chain management; this agility enables tourism SMEs to anticipate changes in the travel market and respond to changing consumer demands in the tourism industry.

The complexity of the tourism supply chain in the 21st century: a bibliometric analysis

PurposeThis study aims to examine the evolution of the tourism supply chain (TSC) and its future development factors. To this end, a quantitative bibliometric analysis was conducted to provide insights from a statistical perspective, including the evolution of the TSC and an outlook on current characteristics and future research trends.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents a quantitative bibliometric study of selected papers on the Web of Science. The study of the evolution of the TSC is based on analyses of bibliographic coupling and co-occurrence of keywords.FindingsBibliographic coupling analysis identified 10 clusters defined by coherent groups of theoretical perspectives. The keyword analysis explains the occurrences in the TSC concept. It also helps to determine the future main drivers of TSC research. In the post-COVID-19 era, the tourism industry needs to focus on green transformation and new technologies to transform TSC, supply chain management and B2B relationships. It also needs to ensure employee retention and policies to attract new talent.Originality/valueThis study provides a comprehensive, objective and integrative overview of the evolution of TSC. It is one of the few original works on supply chain development and will be helpful for scholars and practitioners alike to understand the subject.

ESPOUSAL OF ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKS (OSNS) IN TOURISM SUPPLY CHAIN NETWORK (TSCN) DURING COVID-19

The COVID-19 epidemic has broken the original business network structure and globally affected the tourism supply chains. Online social networks (OSNs) have become a necessary component of ICT-enabled services, affecting every area of human existence. The espousal of OSNs into tourism supply chain networks during a pandemic is crucial. However, scarce studies have been conducted on the espousal of OSNs in tourism supply chain networks. The study developed a research model based on the IS success model, uses and gratifications (U&G) theory, institutional theory, and transaction cost theory to analyze the espousal of OSNs in the tourism supply chain network (TSCN) during COVID-19. The study employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine 99 data acquired via online surveys from supply chain specialists in the travel and hospitality sectors. The research model outperforms better and fulfills all model fitness requirements. The research found that tourism supply chain experts adopt online social networks to address supply and demand disruptions caused by COVID-19. Utilitarian features (e.g., supply chain perceptibility), technological features (e.g., system quality), and cost-benefit aspects substantially influence the espousal of OSNs in the tourism supply chain network. Espousals of OSNs improve tourism supply chain performance during Covid-19. As a result of this research, tourism supply chain management, MIS, and social media literature will be enriched by introducing OSNs in the tourism supply chain environment. The research will also provide adequate implications to supply chain managers and OSNs service provider to adopt OSNs in the tourism supply chain during COVID-19.

Green Fuzzy Tourist Trip Design Problem

The shift from mass tourism to more personalized travel denotes great importance in the construction of tourist itineraries. Given the negative impacts of transport and tourism on the environment, sustainability criteria play an important role. The Tourist Trip Design Problem is related to the design of itineraries for tourists. Planning is complex in tourist regions of developing countries where the information associated with tourist activities is difficult to access, vague, and incomplete. With this information, tourists must plan their trip, and the conditions and limitations they establish for it are flexible and imprecise. Fuzzy optimization can address problems with this type of information and constraints. Therefore, in this paper, an analysis of the tourism supply chain is carried out, taking as a case study the Department of Sucre on Colombia's Caribbean coast. A Multiconstraint Multimodal Team Orienteering Problem with Time Windows and fuzzy constraints is developed to model the tourism trip design problem that maximizes profit and minimizes CO2 emissions. The model is tested using datasets from the literature and the real world. The results demonstrate consistency with the fuzzy approach and generate a set of low-emission solutions.

Application of Industry 3.5 approach for planning of more sustainable supply chain operations for tourism service providers

ABSTRACT This paper addresses a tourist trip design problem and a tour route planning problem to improve the competitiveness of community tourism. The problem was investigated with the objective to maximise the total number of tourists interested in visiting multiple points of interest and several specific activities to receive a satisfactory service by matching their preferences. The problem was formulated as . To solve this problem, a mixed-integer linear programming model was developed for small-size problems, while the modified differential evolution with K-variable moves and random variable neighbourhood search (MDE–RVNS) was developed to determine near-optimal solutions for real problems. To assist the tourism service provider to schedule and sequence the trip and route planning for the tourists, a tourism service provider scheduling and sequencing software based on the MDE-RVNS was designed and developed. A mobile application using the software has been planned for launching to assist tour route planning decision-makers. This can help local tourism businesses to manage demands and ensure that the tourism revenue is evenly distributed in a tourism supply chain to enhance the well-being of local communities.

Innovative Bipolar Fuzzy Sine Trigonometric Aggregation Operators and SIR Method for Medical Tourism Supply Chain

Bipolar fuzzy sets (BFSs) are effective tool for dealing with bipolarity and fuzziness. The sine trigonometric functions having two significant features, namely, periodicity and symmetry about the origin, are helping in decision analysis and information analysis. Taking the advantage of sine trigonometric functions and significance of BFSs, innovative sine trigonometric operational laws (STOLs) are proposed. New aggregation operators (AOs) are developed based on proposed operational laws to aggregate bipolar fuzzy information. Certain characteristics of these operators are also discussed, such as boundedness, monotonicity, and idempotency. Moreover, a modified superiority and inferiority ranking (SIR) method is proposed to cope with multicriteria group decision-making (MCGDM) with bipolar fuzzy (BF) information. To exhibit the relevance and feasibility of this methodology, a robust application of best medical tourism supply chain is presented. Finally, a comprehensive comparative and sensitivity analysis is evaluated to validate the efficiency of suggested methodology.

The concept of the cruise supply chain and its characteristics: an empirical study of China's cruise industry

PurposeThe cruise industry has witnessed steady growth, with passenger volume increasing from 17.8 million in 2009 to 30 million in 2019. In the context of global competition and an uncertain business environment, competition in business has changed dramatically from battles of “firm versus firm” to “supply chain versus supply chain”. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to understand the cruise industry from a chain perspective, which has not drawn widespread research attention.Design/methodology/approachThis paper brings together the insights, opinions, concepts and frameworks from a literature review of different disciplines (maritime shipping, tourism management, logistics management, operations management and supply chain management) and analysis results from 22 semi-structured interviews to make an early attempt to conceptualise the cruise supply chain (CSC).FindingsThe cruise supply chain is elaborated on the process, the role of each entity and its characteristics by comparing with the maritime supply chain and tourism supply chain. Based on the understanding of the CSC, two specific characteristics of the Chinese CSC are examined, which need further investigation.Originality/valueThe CSC is articulated with detailed processes and characteristics based on the literature review and empirical study. The findings of this paper not only advance the knowledge of the supply chain in the cruise industry but also highlight the importance of further research on the CSC.

Sustainable Tourism Supply Chain Assessment Using Hybrid Decision-Making Methods under Fuzzy Uncertainty

In recent years, sustainable environmental issues have attracted attention from all circles due to environmental variation and the depletion of natural resources. Modern thinking about the environment contains the human environment, historical tradition, and social life of the whole ecosystem. In this research, the design, development, and construction of the environmental system are assessed. In this regard, sustainable development, environmental issues, venue administrators and staff, tourists’ education, and service quality evaluation are investigated. After correction to build four broad categories of 26 education venue service quality evaluation indexes, the ecological environment issues venue service quality of the Hakka Romantic Avenue project was conducted by questionnaire survey in Taiwan. Moreover, the VIKOR method is used for service quality evaluation of different subjects, sorting visitors to the evaluation results of the reference, finding the government supervisors, and environmental planning venue administrators. The results showed that the Service Preference (SERVPERF) model combined with Fuzzy-AHP and VIKOR method was effective in the ranking of service quality evaluation of environmental planning venues, and it was significant to eliminate the complacent tendency of the administrators of environmental planning venues to improve the service quality of education venues.

Eco-Efficiency and Its Drivers in Tourism Sectors with Respect to Carbon Emissions from the Supply Chain: An Integrated EEIO and DEA Approach.

Eco-efficiency analysis can provide useful information about sustainability in the tourism industry, which has an important role in both global economy recovery and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), generating considerable indirect carbon emissions with respect to the supply chain due to its significant connections to other industries. This study, from the perspective of tourism sectors, including tourism hotels, travel agencies, and scenic spots, integrated the environmentally extended input–output analysis (EEIO) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) models to develop a research framework, analyzing the indirect carbon emissions of the tourism supply chain, evaluating eco-efficiency with respect to both direct carbon emissions and total carbon emissions (including direct and indirect parts), and exploring the driving factors of eco-efficiency of tourism sectors using Tobit regression models. This study took Gansu as a case, a province in China characterized by higher carbon intensity, an underdeveloped economy, and rapid tourism growth. The results demonstrate that (1) tourism hotels contribute the most carbon emissions in tourism sectors, especially indirectly due to the supply chain, with carbon emissions mainly resulting from the manufacturing of food and tobacco; (2) the eco-efficiency of tourism sectors in Gansu presents a U-shaped curve, which is consistent with Kuznets’ theory; and (3) energy technology is key to improving the eco-efficiency of tourism sectors. The research results provide a clear path for the reduction of carbon emissions and the improvement of eco-efficiency in Gansu tourism sectors. Against the backdrop of global climate change and the post-COVID-19 era, our research framework and findings provide a reference for similar regions and countries who are in urgent need of rapid tourism development to effect economic recovery.

Analytic Hierarchy Process and Its Application in Rural Tourism Service Performance Evaluation

In contemporary China, tourism is being upgraded to a modern service industry and strategic pillar industry. With the rapid development of modern information and communication technology and the continuous refinement of tourism market demand, tourism has entered a new era of smart tourism. Information runs through the whole process of tourism activities and is the key to determine the quality of tourism. Tourism public service is a very important basic support for tourism activities. It is of great significance to meet the diversified needs of tourists and optimize various services and government management functions. Based on the analysis of the connotation of tourism supply chain performance evaluation, this paper constructs a tourism supply chain performance evaluation index system and performance evaluation model suitable for analytic hierarchy process and studies the product price, production capacity, credit, complaint rate, and management level of its upstream tourism supply enterprises. To test the effectiveness of AHP on tourism supply chain performance evaluation, the comprehensive evaluation results and relevant suggestions for improving performance are obtained, which also proves the extensibility of the performance evaluation index system and provides an effective method for improving the performance of each link of China’s tourism industry and tourism service quality.

Coordination Analysis of Sustainable Dual-Channel Tourism Supply Chain with the Consideration of the Effect of Service Quality

The development of the Internet has changed the way that tourism products are sold. More and more tourism product providers (TPPs) use online travel agencies (OTAs) and offline travel agencies (TA) to sell their tourism products. With increasing consumption, service quality has also become an important factor for consumers to choose tourism products. Analysing the effect of service quality on pricing, demand, and profits under centralised and decentralised decisions helps the tourism industry development more sustainably. The study found that the level of the TPP service quality has a positive effect on channel pricing and demand, while the effects of the OTA and TA service quality on channel pricing and profits are affected by the sensitivity of consumer testing to cross-channel prices and services. The results of a comparative analysis of centralised and decentralised decisions show that supply chain members cannot reach an optimal state under the decentralised decision method. Supply chain optimisation is achieved through wholesale price contracts coordinating the distribution of profits among supply chain members. This study used numerical examples to verify the validity of the relevant conclusions and to the coordination mechanism, and propose some managerial implications. This work is pioneering in that it develops a dual-channel tourism supply chain with OTA channel participation, taking into account the service quality of all the members in the tourism supply chain. It suggests further research direction in studying sustainable tourism supply chain development.

Low-carbon tourism supply chain network optimisation with vertical and horizontal cooperations

We consider a low-carbon tourism supply chain (LTSC) network composed of two low-carbon scenic spots (LSSs) and two travel agencies (TAs). The LSSs as leaders and the TAs as followers play Stackelberg games in the vertical direction. Meanwhile, the competing LSSs play Nash game to determine emission reduction efforts and ticket prices, and the competing TAs play Nash game to conduct retail prices. We establish four kinds of differential game models with different LTSC network structures, derive the equilibrium decision-makings of the LSSs and TAs, and explore the influences of competition or cooperation at vertical and horizontal level of the LTSC network members on the equilibrium solutions of the LSSs and TAs, low-carbon level of tourism products and performance of the LTSC network. Then, we find that the low-carbon preference of tourists improves the low-carbon level of tourism products, while the competition intensity between the LSSs leads to the decrease of the low-carbon level of tourism products. In addition, the results indicate that horizontal or vertical cooperations among the LTSC network members are not always conducive to the performance of the whole LTSC network. Only when the sensitivity of tourist demand to retail price meets certain conditions, these cooperations can develop tourism products with higher low-carbon level and bring higher revenues.

Analysis of the Vulnerability and Resilience of the Tourism Supply Chain under the Uncertain Environment of COVID-19: Case Study Based on Lijiang

The uncertainty environment brought about by COVID-19 has broken the original stable hierarchical network structure and the whole supply and demand system of the tourism supply chain (TSC), which has brought heavy losses to the tourism industry. Using the case research and consensual qualitative research (CQR) method, taking the real situation and perception of individual supply chain members as a window, supplemented by the narrative insertion of Lijiang Yulong Tourism Co., Ltd., Lijiang Old Town and Yulong Snow Mountain scenic areas, the general laws of the vulnerability and resilience of the TSC were glimpsed. The results show that there are vulnerability factors in the TSC including the supply side, demand side, government side, destination economic structure and supply chain attributes, which lead to the interruption and damage of the TSC after the outbreak of the pandemic. At the same time, China’s overall economic environment, tourism demand side, supply side, government side and market participants all have resilience elements. Behind the vulnerability, there is a power of recovery and opportunities for innovation and change. The TSC shows a trend of restorative growth. Theoretically, it helps to enrich theories of TSC and supply chain management under an emergency crisis. In practice, the response behavior of participants at different levels of the supply chain is also the basis for TSC risk management and formulation of optimization strategies in the future, which helps tourism sustainable development in the uncertain environment.

A value chain perspective of the new normal travel behaviour: A case study of Indonesian millennials

The COVID-19 pandemic is utterly reshaping the travelling industry. Accordingly, the tourism supply chain is presented with a tremendous challenge for adjusting towards new trends in travel, which stem from changes in tourist behaviours. This paper examines the contemporary millennial behavioural preferences within a tourism value chain perspective, a theme that is largely overlooked in literature. In carrying out the agenda, we employed a multi-attribute decision-making approach in PROMETHEE II, one which is new to the study of tourists’ behaviour. A sample of 316 Indonesian millennials who conducted domestic travel post–COVID-19 outbreak participated in the survey. Research results highlighted imagery user generated content (UGC), direct information from close relatives, accommodation services, self-catered experience and nature-based attractions to mostly resonate with the millennial traveller. In light of the results, we presented managerial implications that shed light for adjustments in the tourism value chain. This study contributes to extend the knowledge of millennials travelling behaviour from an alternative standpoint.

Measurement model of service quality of tourism supply chains in Thailand

ABSTRACT The quality of service plays an important role in the tourism industry; moreover, it is a crucial issue that encourages competition potential to attract tourists. This study develops a measurement model of the service quality perception of tourism supply chains in Thailand using exploratory factor analysis and second-order confirmatory factor analysis. The study used a questionnaire survey administered to 1,400 domestic tourists. The research found that there are seven significant factors, namely, Customer relationship management, Order process management, Service performance management, Capacity and resource management, Demand management, Sustainability management, and Information and technology management affecting the service quality perception of tourism supply chains in Thailand.

Strengthening effects of managerial innovativeness in promoting sustainable supply chain management in tourism business

This paper aims to investigate sustainable tourism supply chains by examining the roles of environmental management, social support, and financial performance of tourist destination agencies. By placing the mediating role of innovativeness, this study developed a theoretical framework to explore the antecedents of tourism supply chain management. This research was conducted in a national park in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, with 176 samples from tourism business actors. By using purposive sampling method, data analysis was performed using Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results of the analysis show a positive and significant influence of environmental management, social support, and financial performance on managerial innovation. These variables in the next analysis are estimated as antecedents of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) in tourism, indicating positive and significant effects resulting from the analysis. In particular, the analysis also raises the important role of managerial innovation in improving the performance of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) in tourism. Empirically, these findings underscore that the greater capabilities of the tourism organization in consolidating organizational resources, organizational performance and social support is more likely to increase the sustainability of SCM.