Behind the Scenes of Rural Tourism : A Study of Entrepreneurship in Micro-Firms

This thesis is a study of entrepreneurship in tourism micro-firms in rural areas. It provides a close, behind-the-scenes look at how owner-managers of tourism micro-firms generate value, overcome limitations, and promote change through interactions with their customers, their local environment and actors in their social networks. This thesis reflects an appreciation for the significant role that micro-firms play in rural tourism, and it builds on the premise that to understand rural tourism – one must study micro-firms. The idiosyncratic context within which tourism micro-firms operate, and their extensive role in the rural tourism system dictate that these actors should receive explicit academic attention. The guiding research question is – How do owner-managers of tourism micro-firms interact with their environment to create value and overcome limitations? I investigate this question through the study of four entrepreneurial behaviours: opportunity discovery, resource mobilisation, utilising network ties, and knowledge sourcing. Each behaviour stands in the focus of one of the four research papers that comprise this thesis. I explore these entrepreneurial behaviours from an interpretivist stance by creating knowledge through an examination of the entrepreneurs' subjective interpretations of their actions. The empirical data come, mainly, from in-depth interviews with owner-managers of tourism micro-firms in rural Sweden. Essentially, I propose that entrepreneurship in tourism micro-firms is best explained using the entrepreneurial bricolage framework. This is primarily expressed by the notion of ‘making do’ as the creative use of local features for tourism purposes and finding workable solutions in the entrepreneurs' spatial environment and ego-networks. The entrepreneurs' embeddedness in the local community enables their long-terms activity and access to resources that are beyond their control. Likewise, personal compatibility and trust determine whom the entrepreneurs turn to for help and collaboration. Finally, I propose three themes that could help to make sense of entrepreneurship: that tourism micro-firms are effectively an embodiment and extension of their owner-managers; that entrepreneurship is the dynamic and incremental process of manoeuvring through contextual tensions and; that smallness is the principal quality that enables tourism micro-firms to interact with their environment and generate value. By applying contemporary entrepreneurship theories in tourism contexts, this thesis contributes to theoretically advancing the interrelated research fields of tourism entrepreneurship and small business