The entrepreneurial ecosystem in rural tourism- cases of Portugal, Brazil and Spain

Abstract

Rural tourism is determinant for the development of local economies. However, despite the growing interest in the role of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and its relation concerning the generation and development of entrepreneurial activity, its impact and application in Rural Tourism has been very weakly studied. Through a case study research strategy, this paper aims to understand the importance of Rural Tourism for the development of local economies, as well as the comprehension of the importance of the entrepreneurial ecosystem for the generation and growing of the entrepreneurial activity in Rural Tourism. The results suggest the existence of important informal and formal networks, good transport and telecommunication infrastructures in Portugal and Spain, however a need of improvements is important in Brazil, and, finally most of the studied regions revealed an important entrepreneurial culture for entrepreneurship.