Tourism Entrepreneurial Agility among Women Entrepreneurs: Linking Digital Entrepreneurial Orientation to Business Sustainability
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62794/ijober.v4i4.412Keywords:
AI Capability, Business Sustainability, Digital Entrepreneurial Orientation, Opportunity Alertness, Tourism Entrepreneurial AgilityAbstract
Women-owned tourism enterprises contribute substantially to destination competitiveness and inclusive economic development in regions that rely on tourism; however, their long-term survival remains a pressing concern. Little is known about the adaptive, tourism-specific mechanisms through which digital entrepreneurial capabilities relate to business sustainability. Grounded in Dynamic Capability Theory, this study introduces Tourism Entrepreneurial Agility (TEA), a tourism-contextualized form of entrepreneurial agility that captures how entrepreneurs detect shifts in the tourism market, modify their products and services, rearrange business resources, and implement innovative responses. This study investigates how Digital Entrepreneurial Orientation (DEO), AI Capability (AIC), Opportunity Alertness (OA), TEA, and Business Sustainability (BS) are related among women who run tourism-related businesses in the Borobudur Priority Tourism Area, Indonesia. Survey responses from 272 women entrepreneurs were examined using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 4. TEA is positively linked to DEO (β = 0.389), AIC (β = 0.334), and OA (β = 0.237), and BS is in turn positively linked to TEA (β = 0.520). OA is also directly and positively related to BS (β = 0.629), while the direct DEO–BS path is negative but not statistically significant (β = -0.220). DEO, AIC, and OA each display significant indirect links with BS via TEA; since the model contains no direct AIC–BS path, the AIC finding is treated as a specific indirect association instead of conventional mediation. These results empirically support viewing TEA as a tourism-contextualized adaptive capability that connects entrepreneurial and technological capabilities with sustainable business outcomes. This study extends tourism entrepreneurship scholarship by situating entrepreneurial agility in women-owned tourism firms and suggests practical ways to build adaptive capabilities in emerging destinations.
References
Agrawal, R. et al. (2025) ‘Entrepreneurial barriers in achieving sustainable business and cultivation of innovation: a resource-based view theory perspective’, Management Decision, 63(4), pp. 1207–1228.
Anzak, S., Sultana, A. and Zeeshan, M. (2023) ‘Digital technologies: enabling environment for women entrepreneurs’, Russian Law Journal, 11(5S), pp. 567–579.
Bansal, P. and DesJardine, M.R. (2014) ‘Business sustainability: It is about time’, Strategic organization, 12(1), pp. 70–78.
Bondarenko, S., Kalaman, O. and Danilova, О. (2025) ‘Digital transformation of the tourism business in an open economy: A comprehensive approach to travel planning and partnerships’, Social development: economic and legal issues [Preprint], (4).
Brenner, B. (2018) ‘Transformative sustainable business models in the light of the digital imperative—A global business economics perspective’, Sustainability, 10(12), p. 4428.
Casanova, S., Bakkali, C. and Tang, J. (2023) ‘Entrepreneurial alertness and entrepreneurial orientation: Contributions to opportunity identification’, The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, p. 14657503231189694. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/14657503231189694.
Chavoushi, Z.H. et al. (2021) ‘Entrepreneurial alertness: A systematic literature review’, Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, 33(2), pp. 123–152. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/08276331.2020.1764736.
Covin, J.G. and Wales, W.J. (2019) ‘Crafting high-impact entrepreneurial orientation research: Some suggested guidelines’, Entrepreneurship theory and practice. SAGE Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA, pp. 3–18.
Dwivedi, Y.K. et al. (2021) ‘Setting the future of digital and social media marketing research: Perspectives and research propositions’, International Journal of Information Management, 59, p. 102168.
Fornell, C. and Larcker, D.F. (1981) ‘Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error’, Journal of marketing research, 18(1), pp. 39–50. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800104.
Ganuthula, V.R.R. (2025) ‘AI-enabled individual entrepreneurship theory: redefining scale, capability, and sustainability in the digital age’, Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 14(1), p. 85.
Gomes, S., Lopes, J.M. and Ferreira, L. (2024) ‘Looking at the tourism industry through the lenses of industry 4.0: a bibliometric review of concerns and challenges’, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 7(1), pp. 436–457.
Hair, J. and Alamer, A. (2022) ‘Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in second language and education research: Guidelines using an applied example’, Research methods in applied linguistics, 1(3), p. 100027. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmal.2022.100027.
Kaihatu, T.S. et al. (2024) ‘Enhancing the business sustainability of women-owned tourism SMEs in Indonesia: Investigating the effects of product innovation, digital platform adoption, entrepreneurial spirit, knowledge utilization, and government support’, Journal of Logistics, Informatics and Service Science, 11(6), pp. 55–76.
Kapota, M., Giannoukou, I. and Halkiopoulos, C. (2023) ‘Women’s tourism entrepreneurship: Digital approach and e-skills in travel business marketing’, in International Conference of the International Association of Cultural and Digital Tourism. Springer, pp. 111–141.
Karimi, J. and Walter, Z. (2021) ‘The role of entrepreneurial agility in digital entrepreneurship and creating value in response to digital disruption in the newspaper industry’, Sustainability, 13(5), p. 2741.
Kausar, D.R., Damanik, J. and Tanudirjo, D. (2024) ‘Borobudur as priority tourism destination: how political economy affects world cultural heritage site management and heritage preservation’, in IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. IOP Publishing, p. 12057.
Kimbu, A.N., Ngoasong, M.Z. and De Jong, A. (2024) ‘Gender, entrepreneurship and social policy in tourism: Tying the knot’, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 32(3), pp. 421–437.
Kock, N. and Hadaya, P. (2018) ‘Minimum sample size estimation in PLS‐SEM: The inverse square root and gamma‐exponential methods’, Information systems journal, 28(1), pp. 227–261. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/isj.12131.
Kraus et al. (2018) ‘Sustainable entrepreneurship orientation: A reflection on status-quo research on factors facilitating responsible managerial practices’, Sustainability, 10(2), p. 444.
Kutlu, G. and Ngoasong, M.Z. (2024) ‘A framework for gender influences on sustainable business models in women’s tourism entrepreneurship: Doing and re-doing gender’, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 32(3), pp. 500–518.
León-Gómez, A. et al. (2025) ‘Unlocking sustainable competitive advantage: exploring the impact of technological innovations on performance in Mexican SMEs within the tourism sector’, Environment, Development and Sustainability, 27(2), pp. 3481–3511.
Li, Z. et al. (2022) ‘Impact of different types of entrepreneurial alertness on entrepreneurial opportunities identification’, Frontiers in psychology, 13, p. 888756.
Lutfi et al. (2022) ‘Business sustainability of small and medium enterprises during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of AIS implementation’, Sustainability, 14(9), p. 5362.
Mikalef, P. and Gupta, M. (2021) ‘Artificial intelligence capability: Conceptualization, measurement calibration, and empirical study on its impact on organizational creativity and firm performance’, Information & management, 58(3), p. 103434.
Munim, A. and Amelia, R. (2026) ‘A Critical Analysis Of Narrative Strategy In Priority Tourism Destinations: The Case Of Borobudur’, Jurnal Kepariwisataan Indonesia: Jurnal Penelitian dan Pengembangan Kepariwisataan Indonesia, 20(1), pp. 75–94.
Nambisan, S. (2017) ‘Digital entrepreneurship: Toward a digital technology perspective of entrepreneurship’, Entrepreneurship theory and practice, 41(6), pp. 1029–1055. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/etap.12254.
Nambisan, S., Wright, M. and Feldman, M. (2019) ‘The digital transformation of innovation and entrepreneurship: Progress, challenges and key themes’, Research policy, 48(8), p. 103773.
Odugbesan, J.A., Tafamel, A.E. and Akrawah, D.O. (2026) ‘AI and the entrepreneurial mindset: mapping cognitive adaptability in the age of technological disruption’, Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 18(1), pp. 212–236.
Parihar, J.S. et al. (2025) ‘Barriers and enablers: Review research on women entrepreneurship and its impact on sustainable tourism development’, Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 13(4), pp. 185–208.
Pennetta, S. et al. (2025) ‘Entrepreneurial agility in a disrupted world: Redefining entrepreneurial resilience for global business success’, The Journal of Entrepreneurship, 34(2), pp. 221–267. [in press]
Podsakoff, P.M. et al. (2024) ‘Common method bias: It’s bad, it’s complex, it’s widespread, and it’s not easy to fix’, Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 11(1), pp. 17–61.
Rahmad, M. and Hastriana, E. (2026) ‘Empowering Women Through Sustainable Tourism Enterprises: A Case Study of Homestay Networks in Rural Java’, HARMONI: Journal of Sustainable & Responsible Tourism, 1(01), pp. 81–96.
Rahman, S. et al. (2026) ‘Power of green capabilities and artificial intelligence (AI): Understanding how and when green innovation promotes sustainability’, Business Strategy and the Environment, 35(2), pp. 2502–2525.
Roy, N.C. (2025) ‘AI-driven social media and economic empowerment in rural tourism entrepreneurship: an empirical analysis’, Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, pp. 1–15.
Santarsiero et al. (2024) ‘Navigating digital transformation and business model innovation in the tourism sector: challenges opportunities, and leadership styles’, Measuring Business Excellence, 28(3–4), pp. 426–438.
Savvinopoulou, M. and Mylonas, N. (2026) ‘The Impact of Entrepreneurial Orientation, Market Orientation and Dynamic Capabilities on Firms’ Performance in Wine Tourism’, Tourism and Hospitality, 7(4), p. 109.
Schuberth, F. et al. (2023) ‘The choice of structural equation modeling technique matters’. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122665.
Teece, D.J. (2020) ‘Fundamental issues in strategy: Time to reassess?’, Strategic Management Review, 1(1), pp. 103–144. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1561/111.00000005.
Teece, D.J., Pisano, G. and Shuen, A. (1997) ‘Dynamic capabilities and strategic management’, Strategic management journal, 18(7), pp. 509–533. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199708)18:7<509::AID-SMJ882>3.0.CO;2-Z.
Touijer, M.N., Touijer, I. and Elabjani, A. (2026) ‘A review of entrepreneurial orientation and digital transformation in SMEs: toward a multilevel framework’, Strategy & Leadership, pp. 1–24.
Usman, F.O., Ali, M., Ali, M., and Khan, M.A. (2024) ‘A critical review of AI-driven strategies for entrepreneurial success’, International Journal of Management & Entrepreneurship Research, 6(1), pp. 200–215.
Vu, H.M. (2020) ‘A review of dynamic capabilities, innovation capabilities, entrepreneurial capabilities, and their consequences’, The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 7(8), pp. 485–494.
Warner, K.S.R. and Wäger, M. (2019) ‘Building dynamic capabilities for digital transformation: An ongoing process of strategic renewal’, Long range planning, 52(3), pp. 326–349.
Williams, A.M., Rodriguez Sanchez, I. and Škokić, V. (2021) ‘Innovation, risk, and uncertainty: A study of tourism entrepreneurs’, Journal of Travel Research, 60(2), pp. 293–311.
Xu, G., Hou, G. and Zhang, J. (2022) ‘Digital Sustainable Entrepreneurship: A digital capability perspective through digital innovation orientation for social and environmental value creation’, Sustainability, 14(18), p. 11222.
Zeng, X. et al. (2024) ‘Sustainable entrepreneurship in tourism: The interaction between tourism enterprise and community’, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 60, pp. 429–440.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Maidiana Astuti Handayani, Agus Setiono, Esty Pudyastuti, Mega Hernawati Harefa, Nazmah
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
