THE ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF SUSTAINABLE LEARNING CULTURE IN THE ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS TOURISM INDUSTRY

Abstract

This study aims to find out whether Human Resource Management (HRM) Practices, Organisational Culture and External Factors create Sustainable Learning Culture in tourism organisations of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and whether it further promotes Sustainable Tourism Development. A structured questionnaire was filled by 210 employees of the hotels, resorts, travel agencies, tour operators, homestays and government tourism agencies across Port Blair, Havelock (Swaraj Dweep), Neil (Shaheed Dweep), North and Middle Andaman, Nicobar group of islands and other locations. Ten items, five-point Likert scales were used to measure all five constructs, with each scale exhibiting high internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.920 to 0.938). The three constructs of HRM Practices, Organisational Culture and External Factors together account for 27.3 per cent of the variance in Sustainable Learning Culture, as indicated by multiple regression. Sustainable Tourism Development, in turn, is significantly predicted by Sustainable Learning Culture (β = 0.498, R² = 0.248, p < 0.001). The results of the Sobel tests showed that HRM Practices (z = 3.499, p < 0.001), Organisational Culture (z = 3.100, p = 0.002) and External Factors (z = 2.810, p = 0.005) had significant indirect effects. All seven hypotheses are supported. The results indicate that the implementation of people-management systems and cultures that enable learning to be continuous, shared and sustainability-oriented can enhance sustainability outcomes for island tourism organisations.