نقش کارآفرینان اجتماعی در پیشرفت مقاصد روستایی The roles of social entrepreneurs in rural destination development

Introduction The focus of this paper is to enhance our understanding of the key roles social entrepreneurs (SEs) play in rural destination development and to develop a new theoretical framework as the foundation of further research in this area. As Jaafar and Rasoolimanesh (2015) note rural tourism represents a tool for rural revitalization. SEs can influence the development of rural tourism; however, literature documenting the roles they play is lacking, posing a gap in understanding the ways rural tourism is developed. Examining the roles of SEs in tourism destinations sheds light on the engagement of entrepreneurs who are motivated not only by profit, but also by social objectives. This type of academic engagement reflects pragmatic changes that are evident in rural tourism destinations. This paper addresses gaps in our understanding of the roles SEs play in rural destination development. This was achieved through our cross-case analysis from Ireland, South Africa and USA. The objectives of the paper are four-fold. Firstly to identify if there are commonalities in terms of the roles that SEs play in rural tourism destinations, secondly to identify the roles that are played by SEs in rural tourism destinations, thirdly to examine how these roles are connected and fourthly to begin to build a framework within which the role of SEs can be analyzed…. Combining findings from three geographically diverse contexts, our paper provides rich insight into the role of SEs as opportunists, catalysts and network architects in rural destinations and suggests that our rural tourism lens needs to adjust from focusing primarily on the role of communities, policy makers, and to a lesser extent entrepreneurs, to encompass this new stakeholder. Doing so will provide an opportunity to push existing boundaries and consider the role of SEs in rural tourism development. The next section reviews the concept of entrepreneurs and SEs in tourism, on which this paper is based.