For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in pilgrimage tourism in Indonesia, fluctuating demand and resource constraints become the primary issues. This study examines the linkages between financial decision-making, risk management, innovation exploitation, and business sustainability among SMEs in Indonesia's pilgrimage tourism areas, a context that remains underexplored in business sustainability research. The data were collected from nine pilgrimage tourism sites using a self-administered survey, and the hypotheses were tested using covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM). The findings of this study indicate that financial decisions have a significant negative direct effect on business sustainability but it has a positive and significant effect on the exploitation of innovation. In addition, risk management is acknowledged to positively promote SMEs' sustainability and innovation exploitation. Indeed, there is a positive link between innovation exploitation and business sustainability. This study also shows that innovation exploitation partially mediates the financial decision and sustainability, as well as risk management and business sustainability. The findings indicate that SMEs in pilgrimage tourism must align financial and risk management practices with innovation-oriented approaches to achieve long-term sustainability. This study provides empirical evidence that enriches the literature on SME sustainability and extends prior research on management practices within religious tourism environments.
Setyawati et al. (Mon,) studied this question.