The structural equivalence of tourism cooperative network in the Belt and Road Initiative Area

This study constructed the international tourism cooperation network (ITCN) in the Belt and Road Initiative area and further analyzed the structural equivalence of the tourism cooperative network by block-modeling approach through Convergence of iterated Correlations CONCOR algorithm in UCINET 6 data set. The results displayed the layout of subgroups: The East Europe, North Asia-Pacific and South Asia were in core positions; Middle East, the Americas and Africa were at margins of the network. Besides, each inter-block relational pattern and the status of each block had been presented. The sociogram of inter-block density highlighted the importance of reciprocal ties. These ties were mainly constructed between core blocks, but seldom constructed between peripheral blocks. The degree of competition derived from structural equivalence can be balanced through the implementation of intra-block differential strategy and the design of inter-block relational patterns.