Međuodnos poduzetničke usmjerenosti i organizacijske inovativnosti hrvatskihhotela

Innovations in tourism, new products, services, processes, and business model are increasingly the subject of research in both academia and practice. This paper aims to explain the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and organizational innovativeness within the Croatian hotel industry. Entrepreneurial orientation, as a business dimension, reflects the inclination of existing firms toward strengthening competitiveness, acting proactively, and taking risks. Organizational innovativeness, the second dimension, pertains to changes within the hotel management system designed to enhance the efficiency of marketing investments, respond more rapidly to market needs, and foster sustainable development. Four variables were used to measure entrepreneurial orientation: proactiveness, risk-taking, autonomy, and competitiveness. Organizational innovativeness was measured using three variables: marketing, product, and process innovation. Given the lack of prior research on the interrelationship between these two business dimensions in the Croatian hotel sector, the added value of this paper lies in the results of its empirical study. Primary data were collected through a survey of 101 respondents, each representing a different hotel. The findings confirm the main hypothesis (H1), which posits a positive correlation between entrepreneurial orientation and organizational innovativeness in Croatian hotels. Furthermore, the variables of proactiveness and autonomy show the strongest association with organizational innovativeness. To maintain a competitive advantage, hotels primarily favor lower-risk innovations that can be implemented quickly. The contribution of this paper lies in providing practitioners and researchers with insights into ways to improve the hotel product, maintain competitiveness, and meet the needs of contemporary guests. The small sample size, the lack of demographic data regarding the respondents, and the absence of information on certain key characteristics of the selected hotels represent limitations of this study; consequently, general conclusions cannot be drawn based on its results.