Ross, Glenn F. (2003) Entrepreneurialism as motivation for tour operations business interest. Tourism Today, 3. pp. 8-25.

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Abstract

Tour operators within the tourist industry are both visible and essential players; they spend a considerable amount of time in the company of visitors, and often have a critical influence upon the range and quality of the experiences encountered by many visitors to a destination. The motivation, the creativity, the skill, the vision and the commitment of such operators is, therefore, of considerable importance in regard to the overall success of any destination tourism industry. A more thorough knowledge of those who would entertain a future career and business interest in this domain may be of some utility for the tourism industry as well as individual destinations. This study has examined levels of entrepreneurial motivation among potential tour operators in a major Australian destination; also investigated were various human resource management factors, such as adaptive and innovative workplace problem-solving styles and also the perceived efficacies of a set of entrepreneurial strategies. The study found a marked entrepreneurial commitment in respect of tour operations' businesses among many potential tourism industry personnel; being an effective communicator, and being an innovative workplace problem-solver were found to be predictive of an entrepreneurial motivation within the tour operations context, whereas responses associated with good luck and having no interest in innovative strategies of workplace problem-solving were revealed not to be predictive of entrepreneurialism within this particular tourism industry domain. The implications of these results for destination competitiveness, and also for future research, are discussed.

Item ID:	7187
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1450-0906
Keywords:	business; entrepreneurship; motivation; tourism
Related URLs:	http://www.cothm.ac.cy/research.htm
Date Deposited:	18 Mar 2010 02:34
FoR Codes:	15 COMMERCE, MANAGEMENT, TOURISM AND SERVICES > 1506 Tourism > 150603 Tourism Management @ 100%
SEO Codes:	90 COMMERCIAL SERVICES AND TOURISM > 9003 Tourism > 900303 Tourism Infrastructure Development @ 100%
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