Digital Leadership and Service Innovation in Saudi Arabia's Hospitality Sector: The Moderating Role of Hotel Star Ratings

Abstract

Purpose: This study investigates how digital leadership translates into service innovative behavior through work engagement and examines how hotel star rating moderates these relationships in Saudi Arabia's hospitality sector under Vision 2030.

Design/methodology/approach: Grounded in the Job Demands-Resources model and Social Exchange Theory, data were collected from 650 frontline hotel employees across four Saudi cities (Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah, Madinah) using quota sampling (68% response rate). PLS-SEM with multi-group analysis was employed.

Findings: Digital leadership strongly predicts work engagement (β = 0.704, p < 0.001; f² = 0.982) and service innovative behavior (β = 0.360, p < 0.001). Work engagement partially mediates this relationship (indirect β = 0.394, p < 0.001), with the model explaining 72.7% of variance in innovation. Hotel star rating significantly moderates all paths: effects are 33% to 70% stronger in five-star versus three-star hotels.

Practical implications: Hotel administrators should calibrate digital leadership strategies to property category. Policymakers should integrate digital leadership criteria into hotel classification systems to advance Vision 2030 objectives.

Originality/value: This study provides the first empirical test of hotel star rating as a boundary condition for digital leadership in a non-Western transforming economy. The findings offer transferable insights for multinational hotel chains operating in emerging markets and for cross-cultural leadership theory beyond Western contexts.