The influence of digital transformation on the resilience of tourism companies under the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACTDigital transformation has become an inevitable choice for tourism companies to improve the resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper focuses on the influence of digital transformation on the resilience of tourism companies and clarifies the important role of digital transformation in enhancing the sustainability of tourism companies. Based on the data from Chinese tourism-listed companies, it is found that digital transformation can mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on corporate resilience. Heterogeneity tests indicate that digital transformation has positive effects on resilience for both eastern and non-state companies, and the resilience of large-, small-, and medium-sized companies benefit from digital transformation. Influence mechanism tests show that digital transformation can strengthen the resilience of tourism companies by increasing organizational flexibility, enhancing sustainable operation capability and shaping competitive advantage. The conclusions are of reference value for decision-making on the use of digital technology to enhance risk resistance by tourism companies.KEYWORDS: Digital transformationcorporate resiliencetourism companiesCOVID-19 pandemicDIDinfluence mechanism Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 The 5 years before the outbreak are represented by Before, e.g. Before1 is 2019, and so on. Current is 2020.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by PRC National Social Science Foundation Youth Program “Research on the Mechanisms and Effects of Resilience Enhancement of Tourism Enterprises under Digital Transformation”: [grant number 23CJY047].