Entrepreneurship, tourism and regional development: a tale of two villages

Abstract

The tourism potential of rural areas represents a source of opportunities for entrepreneurship that can enhance regional development. The impact of tourism is, however, complex, representing a combination of benefits and costs. Despite the necessity to evaluate and understand in depth the relationship between tourism, community life and regional development from a local perspective, many studies adopt a descriptive approach, focusing mainly on the perception and attitudes of local residents. Adopting a qualitative methodology, this article makes a comparative analysis of two rural communities in the south of France. Although the geographic distance between the two villages is only 12 km, the communities present unlike profiles in terms of attractions, entrepreneurial activities, community and regional development. The article provides a twofold contribution to the existing literature: first, it enriches the methodological perspective using an interpretative framework based on the specific functions of rural territories; and second, it applies this framework to explain the specific evolution of the investigated villages, as well as the existing tensions and challenges for regional development and management.

Entrepreneurship as a community phenomenon; reconnecting meanings and place

“…Significantly, it has shown the parts played by connections between people and between people and places-the importance of context (Welter, 2012;Korsgaard et al, 2015a). Traditionally context is viewed as shaping entrepreneurship (Dana et al, 2014) but we want to take a different approach and look at context as the locus of entrepreneurial engagement. We build on ideas first presented by Bengt Johannisson (1989;1990; and more recent work (McKeever et al, 2014;McKeever et al, 2015) that has taken a similar approach in establishing the role played by place in entrepreneurial engagement.…”

Leeuwarden 2018: Complexity of Leisure‐Led Regional Development in A European Capital of Culture

“…Like Fryslân, many rural and peripheral regions without a strong industrial or service sector focus on leisure to increase economic output (Ravenscroft & Reeves ; Hartman & de Roo ; Dana et al . ). Competition with core economic areas is not feasible, but a peripheral location and lower population density result in qualities valuable for leisure; green spaces, waterscapes, tranquility or a rural idyll can be the basis of an economy based on leisure and of ‘living in leisure rich areas’, especially in the Northern Netherlands (Hermans & de Roo ).…”

“…Although leisure development could stimulate the conservation of service levels in the area, the seasonal nature of many leisure activities can make this unpredictable (Dana et al . ). Leisure can be beneficial to natural areas, as people are more inclined to protect areas that they have visited and appreciated, but the activities themselves can also be damaging (Puhakka & Saarinen ).…”

Interrogating the meaning of a rural business through a rural capitals framework

“…As far back as 1990, Wortman (1990) noted that while is easy to assume that everyone knows what rural entrepreneurship means, the community, economic and cultural development objectives and the relationship between urban and rural entrepreneurship each demand systematic investigation. Internationally, a number of academic authors have charted the growth of farm diversification (Seuneke and Bock, 2015;McElwee and Bosworth, 2010), tourism (Dana et al, 2014;Di Domenico and Miller, 2012;Phelan and Sharpley, 2012), home-based businesses (Newbery and Bosworth, 2010) and creative industries in rural areas (Roberts and Townsend, 2016). Such research builds on, and adds to, substantially improved profiling of the characteristics, challenges and contributions of businesses located in rural areas of the UK (Turner, 2014;Atterton, 2016;Scottish Government, 2016;Phillipson el al., 2017;REUK, 2017;CRC, 2007-11;Defra, 2014-17).…”