Co-Opetition as a Pathway to Sustainability: How Bed and Breakfast Clusters Achieve Competitive Advantage in High-Density Tourism Destinations

This study examines co-opetition mechanisms in China’s rapidly expanding bed and breakfast (B&B) sector, where intense competition drives operators to collaborate with rivals. A co-opetition model incorporating size classifications was tested using survey data from 500 clustered B&Bs. Data were analyzed with SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 23.0 through descriptive statistics, reliability testing, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and structural equation modeling (SEM). Results show that perceived benefit (β = 0.230, p < 0.01), cooperation orientation (β = 0.223, p < 0.01), and prior experience (β = 0.232, p < 0.01) significantly drive co-opetition, whereas mutual trust and strategic fit are not significant. Co-opetition strongly enhances sustainable competitive advantage (β = 0.521, p < 0.001), indicating that strategic collaboration can mitigate homogenization in dense markets. The study contributes to co-opetition theory by (1) identifying antecedents specific to small-scale hospitality businesses, (2) challenging conventional assumptions about the role of trust, and (3) establishing empirical links between co-opetition and long-term competitiveness. Practically, the findings provide B&B operators with strategies for navigating competitive yet interdependent environments and offer policymakers evidence-based guidance to foster sustainable tourism clusters through institutional support for cooperative networks.