A Conceptual Development of a Business Model Typology in Tourism: the impact of digitalization and location

Technological development within tourism has enabled a change in consumer behavior, led to the emergence of new actors entering the sector along with widespread digitalization (Boksberger & Laesser, 2009; Laesser et al., 2009; Koukopoulos & Styliaras, 2013; Kubiak, 2014; Wernz et al., 2014). This, in turn, has resulted in new ways of designing businesses (Burger & Fuchs, 2005; d’Angella et al., 2010; Zach & Racherla, 2011; Zach, 2012; Krizaj et al., 2014). Beritelli and Schegg (2016), for instance, describe online booking systems, Yu (2016) points at e-tourism, Scheepens et al. (2016) refer to sustainability initiatives, and De Carlos et al. (2016) indicate how online booking systems introduce new actors in the tourism sector, as do Kathan et al. (2016), and Forgacs and Dimanche (2016) in relation to platform-based businesses. These new business designs reflect some ongoing changes to business models in the sector (Osterwalder et al., 2005; Zott et al., 2011) and suggest the possibility of structuring different ways to operate within tourism. A business model can be defined as a system of interdependent activities of a firm, its business partners, and the mechanisms that link these activities (Zott & Amit, 2010). In short, it is the way a firm operates its business. The increased variety of business model designs in the tourism sector (Martins et al., 2015) draws attention to how various business models may fit in different situations and for different purposes (Zott & Amit, 2013). Through configuration theory, it is possible to conceptually identify archetypes, or in other words, wellperforming business model configurations. The purpose of this paper is to conceptually develop a business model typology in the tourism sector. The theoretical basis for deriving a typology of business models (Baden-Fuller & Morgan, 2010) draws on a configuration approach, which takes into account contingency factors of digitalization as well as company location. In tourism research, the location of a firm is a central theme that focuses on topics such as accessibility and attractiveness of destinations (Henderson, 2006). The location as an external factor is thereby stressed more extensively for business models in tourism than in many other sectors. Digitalization has been shown to change the way tourism operates, including intermediation and peer-topeer (P2P) sharing. Gardiner and Scott (2018), for instance, discuss how digital innovation in tourism has changed the ways companies conduct their business. This paper aims to conceptually develop a business model typology in tourism. It focuses on digitalization and destination location as important contextual factors when developing the typology. The paper builds on prior research on business models and tourism research by adopting configuration theory to create a typology of business models in tourism businesses. Four business model archetypes are identified: (1) bricks and mortar business models, (2) digitalized destinations, (3) create-a-destination, and (4) intermediary business models. The typology contributes to the literature by identifying different types of business models in the tourism sector. The typology also helps to ground the business model concept theoretically, something that has been considered as missing in previous business model research. A Conceptual Development of a Business Model Typology in Tourism: the impact of digitalization and location Gabriel Linton and Christina Öberg