PurposeThis study examines the relationship between absorptive capacity, team culture, competitive intelligence awareness and entrepreneurial behavior with strategic flexibility and sustainable competitive advantage and further investigates the moderating influence of innovativeness on the relationship between strategic flexibility and sustainable competitive advantage in the hotel industry.Design/methodology/approachThe current study applied a quantitative research method to collect data from five-star and luxury hotel management staff in Malaysia, using questionnaire surveys. A total of 550 questionnaires were distributed, and the researcher received 457 valid questionnaires. The hypotheses were tested using the SEM (structural equation modeling) analytical technique.FindingsThe salient findings of this research are (1) absorptive capacity, team culture and competitive intelligence awareness have a significant impact on strategic flexibility and sustainable competitive advantage, (2) entrepreneurial behavior has an insignificant effect on strategic flexibility and sustainable competitive advantage, (3) strategic flexibility has a significant impact on sustainable competitive advantage, (4) innovativeness actively moderates on the relationship between strategic flexibility and sustainable competitive advantage.Research limitations/implicationsThe study described here introduces a sustainable competitive advantage as a new and dynamic approach to explore how its outcomes or performance can be enhanced in the hotel industry. The outcomes of sustainable competitive advantage can help the long-term survival of hotels.Originality/valueThe present study suggests and explains the role of sustainable competitive advantage in the hotel industry and offers new insights into the competitive hotel industry's gaps and weaknesses.

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The business tourism sector is recognized as a high-yield component of the tourism industry with hedonic economic impact on businesses, destinations, local economies, and the development of human capital. It is considered as one of the fastest developing and most profitable sectors. Therefore, the current research was set out to investigate the size and economic value of the business tourist market in Malaysia by highlighting the microareas of business tourists' expenditure and their experience, and presenting a model defining the total economic impact (direct, indirect, and induced), contribution to employment, and contribution to tax revenue generated for Malaysia. A quantitative research approach was applied with two self-administered survey questionnaires used to collect the data (n=5,555) in order to observe the travel information, spending patterns, and experiences of international travelers attending business events in Malaysia, which are mainly conferences and exhibitions. The economic impact assessment in the study was made using a money generation model (MGM). The current study provides its novel findings at a national level and defines business tourists (international travelers) as conference delegates and exhibition buyers attending/joining business events in Malaysia. Along with presenting the demographics, spending patterns, and behavioral patterns of the business tourists, the results also show that in 2014 the business tourism sector contributed significantly to the Malaysian economy at MYR4.7 billion (US$1.44 billion) of direct economic value, MYR9.7 billion (US$2.96 billion) of total economic impact (direct, indirect, and induced), along with 325,437 job opportunities in the local economy and MYR416 million (US$127.2 million) in tax revenue (direct, indirect, and induced).

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