Abstract:
Digitalization has profoundly impacted various industries, including tourism, by creating new
opportunities for entrepreneurs to enhance competitiveness. To capitalize on these opportunities, tourism
entrepreneurs should implement significant organizational changes. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to
explore the organizational changes required for adapting to the digital transformation of entrepreneurs in tourism
industry in Sri Lanka. Employing a qualitative research methodology under the interpretivist paradigm, the study
utilizes the phenomenological approach to gain deep insights into the experiences of tourism entrepreneurs.
Twelve entrepreneurs from the tourism sector were purposively selected and interviewed. Data was analyzed
using thematic analysis with the assistance of NVivo software. As per the findings three key themes had emerged:
transforming the way of working and thinking, skills development and workforce adaptation and operational
changes and automation. Therefore, entrepreneurs have to foster agile approaches within their organizations based
on real-time data in adopting digitalization together with swift changes in human resources and operational
efficiency. The study concludes that technological adoption in digitalization should be accompanied by cultural
and operational transformations to build resilience and sustain competitiveness in the evolving tourism landscape.
