The Importance of Local Area as a Motivation for Cooperation Among Rural Tourism Entrepreneurs

This paper explores the issue of entrepreneurial motivations among rural tourism entrepreneurs in choosing to engage in cooperation. It analyzes literature which deals with the role of entrepreneurs and the development of rural destinations and highlights the fact that the role of entrepreneurs has been understated. Using mixed research methods and studying two rural areas in Ireland it addresses research questions such as why do rural tourism entrepreneurs engage in cooperation? How did this cooperation emerge? And how do they choose who to co-operate with? The key finding is that while these entrepreneurs are motivated to co-operate as they think it will have a positive impact on their business, for many a key motivation is the impact that there will be on their area. As such it is concluded that we need to be cognisant of the fact that rural tourism entrepreneurs are motivated not just by profit and individual gain and that the local area is also an important motivator