Lifestyle Entrepreneurs: The Case of Rural Tourism

Abstract

Tourism is considered a potential tool for developing rural territories which are increasingly affected by loss of economic opportunities and, consequently, some social problems such as depopulation and population ageing. Rural tourism lifestyle entrepreneurs are tourism business owners actively seeking a different lifestyle in rural territories. This chapter presents a discussion of the role and contributions of lifestyle entrepreneurs in rural tourism to the development of the respective territories and the impact of the entrepreneurial activity provoked by this particular type of business owners. A systematic literature review was complemented by the results of a case study carried out in the Alto Alentejo, a rural region in the southern inner part of Portugal. The results considered here were part of a broader qualitative in-depth research. The impacts of entrepreneurial activity may be found, among other aspects, in the maintenance of links with the land and property, the preservation of traditional food and job creation for entrepreneurs and their families and the creation of ‘social capital’ essential to the sustainability especially of small and rural communities.