This study aims to examine how expatriate entrepreneurs operating in Dubai’s tourism sector experience work–life balance (WLB) pressures, negotiate work–life boundaries and develop resilience over time in environments shaped by service intensity and artificial intelligence (AI).
Drawing on Work–Life Border Theory, the study adopts a qualitative, interpretive research design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 50 expatriate tourism entrepreneurs across diverse subsectors in Dubai. Data were analyzed thematically to capture patterns of work–life pressures, boundary-management practices and the evolving role of AI in shaping entrepreneurial behavior and resilience.
The findings show that WLB in expatriate tourism entrepreneurship is not a stable or attainable state but a fragile and continuously renegotiated process. Digitally intensified service demands, emotional labor and constant connectivity systematically weaken temporal and psychological boundaries, while expatriate status removes traditional family- and organization-based border-keepers. At the same time, entrepreneurs actively engage in adaptive boundary-management strategies, including the selective use of AI-enabled automation and filtering tools. Resilience emerges as a dynamic outcome developed through learning, repeated boundary failure and recalibration rather than as a fixed individual trait.
The study extends Work–Life Border Theory by demonstrating that boundary permeability is structurally produced rather than preference-driven, reconceptualizes WLB as a process rather than an outcome and highlights the dual role of AI as both job demand and coping resource in expatriate tourism entrepreneurship.
