Retaining tourism lifestyle entrepreneurs for destination competitiveness

Abstract

Due to their representativeness in the universe of tourism businesses and the potential to generate innovation, tourism lifestyle entrepreneurs (TLEs) play an essential role in the competitiveness of tourism destinations. Despite this vital importance, the antecedents of innovation generated by these entrepreneurs and their willingness to stay at the destination are still under-explored. Findings from a survey of 178 TLEs indicate that the context influences community attachment, and affects indirectly innovation and willingness to stay. Community attachment has a positive influence on entrepreneurial self-efficacy, innovation and willingness to stay. A transition of the context results to developing economies was also taken into consideration. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Willingness to Stay of Tourism Lifestyle Entrepreneurs: A Configurational Perspective

“…First, it extends existing knowledge on the attraction and retention of TLEs by identifying classes of entrepreneurs who value distinct combinations of factors regarding where they develop their businesses. Previous research recognized the existence of a set of factors contributing to the willingness to stay [14]; however, it did not establish such differentiation regarding the preferences and interests of distinct classes of entrepreneurs. Second, it recognizes that place attachment is a core factor common to all classes of TLEs identified regarding the willingness to stay in a place, which allows not only a clear identification of this factor as a key element in the development of the territory's development strategies but also realizing that community attachment is not always a key factor, as was previously assumed.…”

“…Previous research acknowledges the role that entrepreneurial self-efficacy plays in the retention of TLEs [14]. However, it is unclear in which situations this occurs, as many of these businesses are run using non-financial indicators.…”

“…Considering the role that the community and place play in business development and innovation, it is natural that they are also associated with the willingness to stay [14] because, on the one hand, conducting experiences in a specific place implies that they are mainly developed with endogenous human capital [1], and on the other hand, the geographical location and social conditions are key factors in the location decision [22].…”

“…Despite pursuits other than financial goals, these entrepreneurs still need to sustain themselves. Moreover, previous research also acknowledges the role that self-efficacy plays in retaining TLEs in a destination [14]. However, not all these entrepreneurs pursue business success [15], which suggests that there are different combinations that should be further explored to understand in which situations TLEs value business success as a reason to stay.…”

Lifestyle Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Rural Areas: The Case of Tourism Entrepreneurs

“…In the same way, innovation can be defined as the process of introducing new ideas to the firm which result in increased firm performance (Rogers, 2004). The process of innovation in tourism is described as complex (Cooper, 2015)resulting in additional difficulties for small-scale businesses (Dias et al, 2021;Hoarau, 2014). However, LE can boost their small scale in their favor, as it allows greater proximity to the various stakeholders.…”