Effect of Positional Embeddedness on Tour Supplier Integration: Chinese Evidence

Abstract

This article identifies the positional attributes of travel agents (TAs) in the extended TA network in Chongqing (China), and further examines the impact of the travel agent's positional embeddedness (measured by three indicators: degree centrality, structural hole, and closeness centrality) on tour supplier integration (TSI). We applied the random permutations method (node-level) to test theoretical hypotheses based on a sample of 51 travel agents (TAs). It was found that the target travel agent's positional embeddedness could positively accelerate the sustainable integration of tour suppliers and the travel agent's structural hole attribute could significantly contribute to the TSI. The results indicated that a TA can strengthen control power by increasing the positional embeddedness to facilitate high efficiency supplier integration through which TAs can encourage the supplier development of sustainability (SDS) practices, and finally to upgrade the tourism supply chain (TSC) sustainability.