Tourism digital transformation and future supply chain competition: an integrated perspective on real options theory and digital competencies

Purpose This study analyzes how digital technologies collaboration, and technological capabilities affect tourism products' advantage and supply chain resilience via virtual integration and customer service capabilities. Design/methodology/approach To achieve the goals of this study, a digital transformation model was formulated based on the real option theory (ROT) and digital competencies perspective. Data were collected from travel agencies in Taiwan. This study uses the partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique to analyze the research model, and 384 samples were collected from travel agencies for analysis. Findings The research results point out that digital technology collaboration and technical capabilities affect virtual integration and customer service capabilities; customer service capabilities should also be regarded as key influencing variables to improve tourism product advantages and supply chain flexibility. Originality/value This study shares a unique perspective on the digital transformation model, which includes antecedents, mediators and moderators, to construct the critical effects for analyzing the tourism products' advantage and supply chain resilience.