گردشگری و اوقات فراغت (Mar 2025)
Designing a Business Model in the Tourism Industry of Iran
Abstract
Abstract The competitive environment of business is becoming more complex day by day and every business needs basic methods in creating, presenting and acquiring value in order to continue its activity, growth and development in this field. The tourism industry in Iran is facing many challenges, one of which is the lack of proper understanding of the principles of providing services and making money. Among the things that help businesses, especially tourism businesses, to be able to create, present and acquire value with a basic structure, is the proper design of a business model. The purpose of this is to design a business model with the Osterwalder's approach in the tourism industry. This research is practical in terms of the type of goal, descriptive-survey in terms of data collection, and qualitative in terms of the nature of the data. In this research, data was collected through semi-structured interviews. As required by the snowball method, these interviews continue until data saturation is reached. In order to analyze them, qualitative content analysis method with inductive approach has been adopted. Based on the research findings from both library and field study methods, all the constituent elements of the business model were identified in the form of 89 categories. Each of these elements separately and according to the conceptual background they had, were included in the 9 sections of the business model with Osterwalder's approach and formed the business canvas. Keywords: Business model, Business model canvas, Tourism, Value proposition 1. Introduction Always a specific business model is formed along with the establishment of any business. This can be conscious or unconscious. In any case, if a business continues its activity regardless of the business model, it has a target market in an unwritten form; It has ways to earn money, cooperates with other companies and generally has components that can be seen in business models such as Osterwalder, Gary Hamel and other experts. The existing gap between the desired situation and the current situation is revealed when in many businesses, not much attention is paid to the efficient business model and its effect on the organization's profitability. In fact, the design of the efficient business model is not taken seriously. The solution of any problem depends on correct diagnosis. If the business model, which is the foundation of all the activities of a business unit in the direction of creating and providing value, is not correctly identified and it is not determined which components need more attention in each business, The highest possible profit will not be achieved. The first question in the business model is who are the customers of the company's products or services and what are their interests and tastes? (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010) Despite the many studies that have been done on various aspects of the tourism industry, no detailed and thorough studies have been done from the point of view of the business model. Schematic design of the business model canvas makes every business continue to move in the right direction. The business model describes the company's logic in how to create, deliver and capture value. Value proposition represents a package of services and products that create value for a specific group of customers. In fact, value proposition is the reason why customers prefer one company over another (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). The most comprehensive approach in business model design is the Osterwalder approach. Osterwalder's business model for creating, delivering and capturing value includes 9 parts, which are: key partners, key resources, key activities, value proposition, channels, customer relationship, customer segments, cost structure and revenue streams. In this research, the following questions are answered: How is the business model in the tourism industry of Iran? Which items make up the parts of the business model with Osterwalder's approach? 2. Literature Review The business model answers following questions: Who make up your customers and what values are important to them? How do you balance the value you provide with what the customer will pay? (Casadesus & Ricart, 2010). Teece (2010) believes that the business model of an industry should reflect its current state and vision for the future. In his opinion, the business model should be continuously reviewed and modified to eliminate possible weaknesses. Amit and Zott (2012) believe the business model of a company shows a system of interdependent activities that actually underlies all the activities of a system in the direction of making profit. According to their belief, any business can use the business model to determine what activities to do in what way, by whom and for which customers, in order to achieve the highest possible profitability. The business model describes the company's logic in how to create, deliver and acquire value (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010). To express the logic of the company in creating, providing and acquiring value, the business components are separated into 9 separate sections. these 9 parts form the structure of a business in creating and providing value to customers and making money. Customer segments represent different groups of people or organizations that the company intends to reach and provide services to. A value proposition describes a package of products and services that create value for a specific customer segment. Channels express how the company communicates and has access to its target customer segments in order to provide the proposed value. Customer relationship refers to the types of relationships that the company establishes with certain segments of customers. The revenue streams describe how the company earns from each customer segment. The key resources component describes the most important assets required for the business model to function properly. Key activities describe the most important tasks required for the business model to function properly. Key partnerships describe the network of suppliers and partners that make the business model function properly. The cost structure describes all the costs that the components of the business model incur. Michael Carter and Chris Carter (2020) concluded in their business model research findings that few studies have been done in the field of creating creative business models for artists. However, due to the different spiritual values that artists have compared to commercial values, it is difficult to increase productivity through the implementation of business model principles. Quantitative research examines the perceptions and subjective values of visitors involved in local tourism (Zhang et al., 2023). Focusing on strategy without considering the business model can lead to the loss of customers and change their behavior and makes the company vulnerable to competitors (Braun et al., 2019). Companies should seek to embrace business model innovation as a core competency and a tool for sustainable competitive advantage (Wrigley et al., 2016). 3. Methodology This research is qualitative in terms of the type of data, descriptive-survey based on the method of data collection, and applied based on the purpose. The data collection tool is semi-structured interviews, and the statistical population of this research is formed by senior managers of Iranian tourism companies who have at least 5 years of experience in this field. For sampling in this research, a judgmental or purposeful method is used. In this research, according to the snowball method, the interviews will continue until the data reaches saturation. The method of data analysis is qualitative content analysis and open coding method is used to extract primary codes and then categories. MAXQDA software is used for coding in this research. Here is the data analysis process: Getting to know the data Summarizing texts Basic coding Extracting categories Classification 4. Results To collect data in this research, active managers and experts in the field of tourism were interviewed. Based on the findings of the analysis, 464 initial codes extracted from the text of interviews. Later, these initial codes turned to 89 categories based on their meaning background (Table 4). 5. Conclusion The purpose of this research is to design a business model in the tourism industry with Osterwalder approach. For this purpose, a number of semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior managers in this field. Using the qualitative content analysis method, 464 primary codes were identified and then 89 primary codes were extracted (shape 4). Based on their meaning, the categories are included in 9 sections of the Osterwalder business model. The customers are the mass market, government departments, private companies, content production freelancers and students. The proposition values are: "Providing up-to-date and high-quality information about places, services, and tourism facilities, along with making it possible to compare them for free, and providing a distinct travel plan according to the limitations of travelers in a simple and accessible way". "Providing high-quality content in the form of an attractive website to attract the largest possible audience in order to increase the income of freelancers, increase the number of advertisements and enrich the customer databases for organizations and government institutions". "Providing free consultations as well as leisure-related services for those who do not want to travel, such as virtual tourism." "Providing well-being and security for customers along with providing additional services and facilitating passenger communication with other tourism sectors, which reduces additional costs and time costs for customers, as well as providing service guarantees". "Providing various services such as conducting educational tourism and selling products related to tourism at a fair price". The channels used in the tourism industry are: face-to-face communication, internet, messengers, social media, website, intermediaries and call support center. Businesses in the field of tourism use various types of communication, including self-service, dedicated response, personal response, customer community (forum, etc.), automatic services, and joint creation through feedback. Income streams include: direct sales of tourism and travel services, providing educational and consulting services, advertising income, brokerage fees, sales of customer databases, sales of tourism equipment and sales of membership services. Key resources in the tourism industry are: location, information resources, professional business ethics, proper communication with colleagues, competent human resources, creativity and innovation, specialized knowledge and skills, cloud storage space, licenses, tools and equipment, and brand name. The most key activities among tourism companies are: obtaining insurance, concluding contracts, training employees, obtaining permits, hiring, programming, advertising, research and development, content production, maintenance of tools and equipment, and knowledge management. Key partners for tourism companies include: accommodation service providers, transport companies, other tourism companies, investors, content production freelancers, hardware equipment suppliers and repairers, government departments, insurance companies, programming and software companies and intermediaries. The cost structure for tourism companies includes: the cost of computer affairs, content production outsourcing, advertising and marketing costs, equipment and hardware maintenance, salaries, ancillary services, administrative costs and staff training costs. In their study, Getz and Peterson (2005) found that businesses that are able to innovate in providing value to their customers perform better. Diaz et al. (2019) showed that using a business model canvas helps tourism managers integrate digital technologies more effectively into their business models. Reinhold et al. (2017) emphasize the importance of flexibility and innovation in business model design to adapt to technological changes.
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