As market competition intensifies, the importance of dual-channel supply chain in the green accommodation industry is becoming more and more prominent. The merchant model is the main operating model in the hospitality industry when implementing a dual-channel green supply chain. However, a lot of news and facts show that there are a lot of channel conflicts and free-riding behaviors in the dual-channel supply chain when implementing the merchant model for operation. For this reason, how to resolve these channel conflicts and free-rider behavior becomes the key to improve the efficiency and greenness of hotel operations. This study uses the Stackelberg model and numerical simulation experiments with Matlab software to explore the optimization of a green dual-channel supply chain consisting of a hotel and an online travel agency under the influence of channel preference and free-rider behavior in the merchant mode of operation. The results show that channel preference and free-rider behavior reduce the greenness and operational efficiency of the supply chain. In this case, enhancing cooperation between hotels and online travel agencies and allowing them to make joint decisions can effectively address these issues. The results of the study can help the hotel industry develop an effective dual-channel distribution model to optimize revenue and product greenness.
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