Effects of Leadership Styles on the Predisposition to Innovation in Workers of the Sustainable Tourism Sector

There is a symbiotic relationship between leadership and creativity. Today, the success and continuity of companies depend on their ability to innovate, and leaders are responsible for driving that innovation and transformation. The paper examines how effective leadership can foster a culture of innovation within an organization. Different leadership styles are found to have a varying effect on the creative performance of employees in the service sector. A random sample of 215 workers from tourism sector companies (restaurants, travel agencies and hotels), located in Callejón de Huaylas, Peru, was used. PLS-SEM, which uses structural equation modelling, was used to process the data. Leadership styles were found to have a substantial impact on workers’ propensity to innovate in firms in the sustainable tourism sector. Transformational leaders would explain 81.4% of the variation in creative actions, while transactional leaders would explain 81.1%. This study therefore adds to our knowledge of how different types of leadership influence employee creativity and productivity in the hospitality and travel industries.