Research on a Dynamic Model of Trust Building Within Regional Tourism Alliances: Evidence from China

The purpose of this study is to examine the emergence of trust as a dynamic process and develop a dynamic model of trust building within regional tourism alliances (RTAs) in China. Previous studies of trust were used to identify a potential trust-building process for partners in interorganization with four potential stages: previous history, (re)negotiation, commitment, and execution. A case study approach was then used to explore the development of trust within RTAs. The results indicate that the process of trust building can be examined as a sequential process. The previous stage enables trust building in the next stage. The output of the previous stage is an input into the next stage. The previous history represents the input of trust building. The negotiation stage has an input from previous history and output to commitment. The execution stage has an input from commitment and output to the next cycle.