A survey of 433 employees and managers in mainland Chinese tourism SMEs found organizational readiness and digital self-efficacy connected to AI adoption and operational capability, which had the strongest association with perceived firm performance.
Key findings
- Organizational readiness was the most consistent readiness antecedent. Digital self-efficacy was positively associated with AI adoption and operational capability, and operational capability had the strongest direct relationship with perceived performance, supporting a readiness-to-use-to-capability pathway.
Why this matters globally
The study encourages SMEs and policymakers to invest in people, process and workflow change alongside tools rather than measure transformation by AI adoption alone.
Thai researcher contribution
Researchers affiliated with a Thai university developed and tested the model using Chinese data, reflecting cross-border AI and tourism scholarship.
Limitations to consider
The data are Chinese rather than Thai, cross-sectional and self-reported, with perceived performance. The abstract does not clarify clustering of respondents within firms, leaving common-method and reverse-causality concerns.