Evolutionary selection for travel agencies under COVID-19 adversity through the lens of life history theory

ABSTRACT

This study draws on life history theory to rationalize how tourism enterprises make decisions and evolve during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a case study approach, the current work improvises the house of trade-off paradox as a visual metaphoric framework that integrates three major dyadic trade-off pairs along with four organizational resource configuration aspects. This inquiry further synthesizes the wheel of selection strategy to pinpoint a mechanism in which tourism agencies mutate to adapt to a new normal based on acute environmental shocks. We further provide practical implications for operators with valuable insights germane to post-pandemic recovery.

KEYWORDS:

• Travel agency
• life history theory
• trade-offs
• selection strategy
• Covid-19
• retrenchment
• growth
• coopetition
• economic relationship
• social relationship

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Prof. Xiaoming Zhang from Sun Yat-Sen University, and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. And our deepest appreciation also goes to the MTA students who help us to reach respondents and collect the interview data. This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 72074230, 72004239, 41901164)

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Fast strategy in psychology are also known as “r-selected” strategy in ecology manifested in a quick growth rate, relatively short lifespan, or lower level of investment in the quality of offspring; and slow strategy is also known as “K-selected” strategy in ecology including traits as a slow growth rate, relatively long lifespan, or higher level of investment in the quality of offspring (Giudice et al., 2016; Pianka, 1970; Promislow & Harvey, 1990).