Management Studies in Development and Evolution

Work Engagement in Tourism Services: The Role of Leadership Styles and Managers’ Motivational Communication

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, 1
Seyed Ali Hosseini 2
Seyed Mojtaba Moussavi Neghabi 3
Fatemeh Salarvandian 4

1 University of Tehran

2 Allameh Tabataba’i University

3 University of Gonabad

4 Department of Tourism Management, Faculty of Management & Accounting, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22054/jmsd.2026.93775.4838
Abstract
In travel agencies, employees’ work engagement plays a fundamental role in customer interaction quality, reassurance, information delivery, and the creation of desirable service experiences. Despite growing research on leadership and work engagement in the hotel industry, limited evidence exists regarding travel agencies. This study aimed to explain employees’ work engagement in travel agencies based on leadership styles and managers’ motivational communication. Data were collected from 254 employees working in travel agencies in Tehran and were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The research model included servant leadership, transformational leadership, three dimensions of motivating language—direction-giving language, empathetic language, and meaning-making language—and work engagement. The results showed that the structural model had an acceptable fit, and all paths in the research model were positive and significant. Among the variables affecting work engagement, empathetic language showed the strongest direct effect. Moreover, servant leadership had the strongest relationship with empathetic language, whereas transformational leadership had the strongest relationship with meaning-making language. The findings indicate that employees’ work engagement in travel agencies is shaped through the interaction between managers’ leadership styles and the quality of their motivational communication. Accordingly, strengthening clear, empathetic, and meaning-making communication can effectively enhance employees’ work engagement in this sector.

Keywords

Work engagement
servant leadership
transformational leadership
motivating language
travel agencies
Subjects
Management Studies in Development and Evolution

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 24 October 2026

  • Receive Date 21 June 2026
  • Revise Date 06 October 2026
  • Accept Date 13 October 2026

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