The roles of social entrepreneurs in rural destination development

Ziene Mottiar, Karla Boluk and Carol Kline

Annals of Tourism Research, 2018, vol. 68, issue C, 77-88

Abstract: This paper seeks to explore how social entrepreneurs are relevant to our consideration of rural destination development. While many peripheral rural areas face significant challenges in terms of sustaining communities and attracting tourists it is often social entrepreneurs, as much as traditional entrepreneurs, who are involved in developing new ideas, new products and activities, and envisioning a future for the area. This study, which is based on case studies resulting from nine semi-structured interviews carried out in rural areas in Ireland, South Africa and USA, identifies key roles that social entrepreneurs play in terms of rural destination development; namely that of an opportunist, catalyst, and network architect, and this is used to build a theoretical framework within which SEs can be analyzed.

Keywords: Social entrepreneur; Rural tourism; Rural destination development; Tourism potential; Network architect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:anture:v:68:y:2018:i:c:p:77-88

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2017.12.001

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