The Mediating Effect of Ownership of Psychological Behavior and Tour Leader Experience on Accountability in Order to Explore the Sustainable Business Model of the Tourism Industry

Abstract

Since 2019, the world has been affected by COVID-19. The tourism industry, in particular, has suffered greatly. For instance, widespread travel restrictions have directly led to unemployment among tourism practitioners, especially tour leaders engaged in leading overseas tour groups. In the current environment, tour companies are limited to training only, and as such have chosen to focus on strengthening three critical areas: the leadership, psychological, and professional skills of their tour operators. This study contributes to the tourism literature by examining the direct and indirect effects of accountability on ownership of organization behavior (OOB) and tour leader personality in the context of the tourism industry, in order to expand the sustainable development of the tourism industry. The definition of OOB is that the psychological influence of the tour leader will affect their behavior, and the psychological consequences of the tour leader will be affected by experience (such as seniority of the team leader or number of tour groups). A structured questionnaire was used to survey tour leaders who hold an international license in Taiwan. The direct mediating influences of competence and having a place (psychological antecedents) on their accountability was confirmed. OOB also partially mediated the direct positive effect of the practice mechanism on their accountability. Our results also confirmed that competence and having a place are important predictors of the practice mechanism, and are better predictors of accountability than OOB. These findings should enhance the organizational design and marketing options available to travel agency businesses, as well as offering guidance to managers attempting to shape and mold their organizational culture and the behaviors of tour leaders associated with the implementation of OOB, in order to improve accountability in the sustainable business model of tourism.