AI-Driven Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Tourism and Hospitality: Mediating Roles of Digital Culture and Skills

Abdulrahman Abdullah Alhelal, Ahmed Abdulaziz Alshiha and Bassam Samir Al-Romeedy ()
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Abdulrahman Abdullah Alhelal: Department of Tourism and Hotel Management, Collage of Tourism and Archaeology, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Ahmed Abdulaziz Alshiha: Department of Tourism and Hotel Management, Collage of Tourism and Archaeology, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Bassam Samir Al-Romeedy: Tourism Studies Department, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, University of Sadat City, Sadat City 32897, Egypt

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 19, 1-21

Abstract: This study explored how AI affects the sustainability of competitive advantage in the tourism and hospitality sector, with a particular focus on the mediating roles of digital culture and digital skills in the lens of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Data were collected via a structured questionnaire distributed to a purposive sample of 488 managers and supervisors working in five-star hotels, travel agencies, and DMCs across Saudi Arabia. The findings revealed that AI has a significant direct effect on sustainable competitive advantage and also exerts strong positive effects on both digital culture and digital skills. In turn, both of these internal enablers significantly contribute to sustaining a competitive advantage. Mediation analysis further showed that both digital culture and digital skills partially mediate the relationship between AI and sustainable competitiveness. The study addresses a notable gap in tourism research by providing localized evidence from a market undergoing rapid transformation under Vision 2030, and, taken together, extends TAM to an organizational lens by demonstrating AI’s role in shaping culture and skills that underpin a durable advantage while pointing to actionable priorities—targeting high-value AI use cases, conducting capability audits, institutionalizing continuous learning through visible leadership and role-based upskilling, and embedding culture- and skills-oriented KPIs within AI governance.

Keywords: artificial intelligence; digital culture; digital skills; sustainable competitive advantage; tourism and hospitality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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