Reorganization of supply chains as a key for the envision of socio- technical transitions. The case of tourism

As stressed by the literature on technological change, not only production and logistics activities take place along supply chains, but also innovation processes. It is then surprising that in the extensive research field of socio-technical transitions, the supply chain – and its actors – are seldom considered as a key point of the analysis. This paper aims at filling this gap of the literature by showing that the understanding of the on-going reorganization of supply chains – and the possible conflicts between actors it brings along – is a key to envisage socio-technical transitions and scenarios. A specific attention is given to conflicts between new entrants, that bring along a disrupting innovation, and dominant incumbents that resist to change. Tourism is proposed as a reference case just because the on-going radical change of its supply chain of vertically interrelated industries is currently led by a bunch of internet-based new entrants. Direct interviews to tourism experts and operators are used to build and evaluate three alternative socio-technical scenarios of tourism. Tourism scenarios do not emerge from the different use of the Web, but from a different reorganization of the tourism supply chain, each being led by different actors. Under this light that reorganization of the tourism supply chain is not just one of the effects of the increasing relevance of the Web in tourism, but it is the innovation. This consideration may be relevant for all other sectors whose supply chain is currently disrupted by new entrants that bring along an emerging technology.