Abstract
Urban tourism offers growing opportunities for women entrepreneurs, yet market uncertainty, resource limitations, and rapid digital transformation often constrain their innovative behavior. This study examines the effect of entrepreneurial capability on innovative behavior among women entrepreneurs in Medan’s urban tourism sector, while investigating the mediating roles of entrepreneurial resilience and market adaptability and the moderating role of digital competence. The study used a quantitative approach with a cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected from 450 women entrepreneurs selected through purposive sampling and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS. The findings show that entrepreneurial capability has a positive and significant effect on innovative behavior (β = 0.24, p < 0.001). Entrepreneurial resilience and market adaptability significantly mediate this relationship, while their sequential mediation is also significant (β = 0.34, p < 0.001). Furthermore, digital competence significantly strengthens the relationship between entrepreneurial capability and innovative behavior (β = 0.45, p = 0.002). These findings indicate that entrepreneurial capability alone is insufficient to generate innovation; resilience, adaptability, and digital competence are essential mechanisms and conditions. The study concludes that integrated capability-building and digital empowerment programs are needed to strengthen innovation among women entrepreneurs in Medan’s urban tourism sector.