Business model for tour and activity multi-sided platforms

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant professor, Tourism Management Department, Faculty of Management and Accounting, Allameh Tabatabaei University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Associate professor, Industrial Management Department, Faculty of Management and Accounting, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Ph.D. candidate of Tourism Management, Management and Accounting Faculty, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Tour and activity multi-sided platforms are currently the most promising tourism sector for investment. These platforms are at the forefront of digitizing tour and activity industry that has been dominated by traditional tour operators. Tour and activity multi-sided platforms curate large numbers of tours and activities from various suppliers in different tourism destinations and offer them to online users. Tour and activity platforms are emerging tourism phenomenon with a lesser-known business model. This research aims to understand and design business model of tour and activity multi-sided platforms. To this end, Osterwalder and Pigneur canvas business model has been used as the theoretical framework and an interview has been conducted with 14 experts to construct the intended business model. Collected data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The proposed business model helps entrepreneurs understand the components of such business models and configure their existing or future platforms in a better way, and investors will better understand the business model of these platforms to make more accurate and appropriate investment decisions.

Keywords

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 21 May 2019
  • Revise Date: 09 July 2019
  • Accept Date: 09 July 2019

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