Applying management accounting practices within the Malaysian hotel industry represents an area of significant interest that has hitherto received scant scholarly attention. This study aims to elucidate the determinants that precipitate the adoption of management accounting techniques and to determine their subsequent influence on the operational effectiveness of Malaysian hotels. In the post-COVID-19 era, technological innovations intensified market rivalry, and varying scales of hotel operations have accentuated the imperative for effective management accounting practices. Employing a quantitative methodology, this research surveyed a sample of 192 hotels selected via non-probability (purposive) sampling, with data collected through both online and field-based questionnaires. The data was subjected to preliminary analysis using SPSS, and the research model was subsequently tested using SmartPLS 4.0. The findings reveal that market competition and technological advancements are pivotal factors in shaping the adoption of management accounting practices. Moreover, the study demonstrates that such practices positively impact key operational metrics within the Malaysian hotel sector, including the average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR). These insights are of considerable value to governmental bodies, industry stakeholders, and policymakers, as they can inform strategies to sustain the industry’s competitiveness. Future research is encouraged to adopt alternative methodological approaches, such as cross-national comparative studies between Malaysia and Japan, to further expand the corpus of knowledge on management accounting practices in the hospitality sector.