Exploring digital transformation and innovation factors in Tunisian hospitality: Impacts on service quality and operational performance

Digital technologies are transforming the hospitality industry, offering hotels new opportunities to improve guest experience, optimize operations, and remain competitive. While prior research has explored digitalization broadly, limited studies have examined how emerging digital innovations such as artificial intelligence, cloud-based management systems, and data analytics directly impact hotel performance. This study explores how Tunisian hotels mobilize technological, organizational, and managerial capabilities to implement digital innovations and how these efforts shape service quality and operational outcomes. Using a qualitative research design based on semi-structured interviews with hotel managers and staff, the findings reveal that digital transformation generates the greatest benefits when supported by innovation-oriented cultures, flexible structures, continuous strategic renewal, and flexible management practices. Hotels that successfully align digital technologies with redesigned processes and enhanced workforce capabilities report notable improvements in service personalization, process optimization, guest satisfaction, and resource efficiency. By identifying the mechanisms through which digital transformation and innovation factors drive performance, this study contributes to theoretical discussions on organizational capabilities in hospitality and provides practical guidance for hotel managers seeking to strengthen service quality and operational performance in an increasingly digital and competitive environment.