Strategic Agility and Destination Resilience: Evidence from Iraqi Tourism Organizations Post-Crisis

Abstract

This paper tests if the strategic agility of Iraqi tourism organisations is related to their role in destination resilience after crises. A sample of 250 valid questionnaires filled by the managers and employees of the hotels, travel companies, destination management bodies and other tourism facilities was used. Strategic agility (16 items, four dimensions) and destination resilience (16 items, four dimensions) were measured on a five-point agreement scale. The whole scales were reliable (Cronbach's alpha =.86 and .88) but the four-dimensional structure within each scale was not supported statistically. Strategic agility correlated strongly with destination resilience (r =.79, p <.001) and explained 62.1% of its variance in a simple regression (β =.79). Sensing, decision-making, resource-allocation and organisational agility had a significant unique effect in a multiple regression. The effect was unaffected by crisis impact, organisation type and ownership once controlled. Since both constructs were rated by the same respondents at the same time, the size of the association is probably inflated. The paper also gives recommendations to tourism managers and authorities.

Keywords: Strategic agility; Destination resilience; Tourism organizations; Crisis recovery; Iraq.