Muṭāli̒āt-i Mudīriyyat-i Gardishgarī (Mar 2022)
Identification and Design of a Model of Rural Tourism Entrepreneurship Ecosystem: The Case of Khalkhal City (Case study: Khalkhal city)
Abstract
Introduction: The growing attention to entrepreneurship in tourism research indicates the critical role of entrepreneurship and new businesses in innovation and value creation in tourism activities. The role of small and medium-sized businesses in tourism activities and their relationship with social and economic development in rural areas highlight the development of entrepreneurial opportunities as a dynamic factor in the development of local communities. Therefore, the increasing focus on small businesses in tourism has directed the expert attention to the importance of entrepreneurship in such businesses. Given its many tourist attractions, Khalkhal city has attracted the attention of local and non-local entrepreneurs in recent years. After 2011, Khalkhal faced an influx of tourists due to the geographical situation of the region. Located near the north of the country, the city is a tourist crossing point from the north of the country to Ardabil Province and vice versa. Therefore, many tourism entrepreneurs are now engaged in different activities in the city, which makes it necessary to pay serious attention to the approach of the tourism ecosystem. This requires planning and taking actions within the paradigm of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The entrepreneurial ecosystem helps find out about opportunities and threats by identifying relevant indicators and elements, thus providing a growth model for entrepreneurs. Therefore, supporting and strengthening the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem is one of the essential measures in identifying and developing desirable strategies to meet economic changes and social needs in rural areas. Materials and Methods As an applied study based on a mixed methods research design, the present article intended to identify and design a model of tourism entrepreneurship ecosystem in Khalkhal city. The statistical population of the study consisted of 15 local experts active in the fields of entrepreneurship and tourism. The Delphi method was used to collect the data. Having aligned the data with the theoretical foundations, the research identified and classified the elements of ecosystem by using the opinions of five academic experts and entrepreneurs. Results and Discussion According to the results obtained from the direct influence and impact situation, governance/leadership (a score of 1639) and networks/social capital (a score of 1475) were found to be the most influential factors impacting other elements. In the interviews, the entrepreneurs referred to the complex administrative bureaucracy as a significant obstacle to the development of tourism in the city. In fact, issuing a license in the tourism sector requires numerous inquiries from various departments, to which the delays of inefficient administration must be added. According to the results, the first floor of the influence matrix housed the two elements of governance/leadership and physical infrastructure/attractions, which significantly impact other elements. However, the elements of community culture, networks and social capital, education and transmission, and business support services were located on the second floor, which indicates their high impact on the ecosystem. Moreover, the elements of human resources, financial infrastructure, and the life quality were in the second class, which indicates their high impact on the elements of the previous two classes. The first category also includes the element of contextual and general factors that act autonomously and have little impact on other elements. Conclusion Nowadays, the emerging hybrid and systematic view of issues, especially in the field of humanities, makes it even more necessary to pay attention to the study of the entrepreneurial ecosystem as the dominant paradigm in entrepreneurship studies. In this respect, the present article tried to study the rural entrepreneurship in Khalkhal city with an eye to the ecosystem approach. According to the results obtained from local experts in two complementary steps, it was found that the element of governance and leadership is the most fundamental element of the rural tourism entrepreneurship ecosystem in Khalkhal city. This finding is justified in light of the broad dimensions of the government in Iran, which play the same role in both designed models. In fact, the initiative of tourism entrepreneurship in the region is controlled by the government. Therefore, the reform of the legal structure, especially the laws supported and encouraged by the government, is the first step to the success of the tourism entrepreneurship ecosystem.
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