Redefining the Digital Frontier: Digital Leadership, AI, and Innovation Driving Next-Generation Tourism and Hospitality

Abstract

Despite the recognized importance of digital transformation, there remains a research gap regarding the specific mechanisms through which digital leadership enables organizations to translate digital strategies into sustainable outcomes. This study addresses this gap by examining the role of digital leadership (DL) as a critical driver of digital transformation (DT), while highlighting the mediating effects of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital innovation (DI). Drawing on the Dynamic Capabilities Theory, we conceptualize DL as a sensing and seizing capability that mobilizes organizational resources to foster AI adoption and support DI, thereby achieving transformational resilience. Using a convenience sample of 346 employees from five-star hotels and class-A travel agencies in Greater Cairo, Egypt, data were analyzed through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that DL has a strong direct impact on DT and, more importantly, an indirect effect through enhancing AI productivity and enabling DI. This dual pathway advances theoretical understanding of how digital leadership shapes transformation processes and offers practical evidence for tourism and hospitality firms seeking to sustain competitiveness in dynamic market environments.