ENTREPRENEURSInnovation is inherently associated with risk and uncertainty, and the engagement of entrepreneurs with these is central to the innovation process. Entrepreneurs are not passive actors but, through learning, they contribute to the dynamic capabilities of the firm across the innovation process. Drawing on 57 interviews with entrepreneurs in tourism SMEs in Spain and the UK, the paper identifies how risk and uncertainty are understood to change throughout the innovation process in the key areas of technology, finance, markets and organizations. It also examines how tourism entrepreneurs respond to risk and uncertainty through a range of strategies, especially the harvesting of knowledge and networking.However, engaging with uncertainty remains elusive and relies as much on intuition as on reasoning.

Lifestyle, non-economic motives have been recognised as a significant motivational factor for tourism and hospitality entrepreneurs. However, knowledge on the subject is mainly drawn from the perspective of western developed economies, with a paucity of studies focusing on transition and developing countries. The purpose of the paper is to investigate tourism entrepreneurship within the former socialist countries, particularly focusing on Croatia. The study is based on in-depth interviews with tourism entrepreneurs in the Splitsko-dalmatinska county. The paper argues that understanding of entrepreneurship can be enhanced if theories are contextualised within a specific setting and industry sector and thus applies Morrison's (2006) 'drilling down' model in investigating tourism entrepreneurship. The results reveal a non-existence of lifestyle entrepreneurs and a conceptual model is developed to encapsulate the complex range of factors which underpin the different behaviour of the analysed entrepreneurs. Implications for entrepreneurship theory and further research are discussed.

This paper aims to explore the factors that stimulate entrepreneurship among small hotels in a former socialist economy which experienced a turbulent economic and social transition period. The study investigates how specific aspects such as a low level of competition and position of the entrepreneurs in society, acted as facilitating or inhibiting factors for entrepreneurship. The findings from in-depth interviews with 37 hotel entrepreneurs demonstrate that institutional deficiencies influence market orientation of the entrepreneurs and that the specific social context sets the conditions by which lifestyle-related motives will exist or not. They also underscore that investigation of entrepreneurs needs to take account of a broad range of sociocultural factors and not solely entrepreneurial agency. Inclusion of a transitional economic and social setting into the broader theoretical framework of hospitality entrepreneurial research demonstrates the value of a contextualized approach.

This longitudinal research positioned at the juncture of tourism, entrepreneurship and transition economies studies investigates the specific informal personal network veza of tourism entrepreneurs. The study discusses the triggers of network formation and their role and utilisation through the entire business lifecycle. Findings demonstrate that veza ties have a dual role in the lifecycle both as main facilitator of entrepreneurial activity and as driver of success of entrepreneurial ventures by providing necessary resources and overcoming barriers in a turbulent institutional environment. This study contributes to tourism social sciences by providing an integrative framework to study the emergence, formation and utilisation of entrepreneurial informal networks in tourism in transition economies.