Emotional intelligence and employee creativity in travel agencies

Every country in the world is developing its tourism industry. Related enterprises not only face problems regarding the use of environmental resources and the development of new products, but also pay much attention to human resources that are beyond capital, technology, or tangible property, with a view to promoting innovation and competition. The purpose of this study is to elucidate the effect of the emotional intelligence of employees of travel agencies in Taiwan on their innovative performance. The sample comprised 170 travel agency employees in Taiwan. Reliability analysis, descriptive statistics, and path analysis were utilised to analyse the data. The results demonstrate that travel agency employees who exhibit highly regulated emotions and extensive use of those emotions also display substantial creativity. The theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are considered and a future research direction proposed.