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Can Tourism Social Entrepreneurship Organizations Contribute to the Development of Ecotourism and Local Communities: Understanding the Perception of Local Communities

Author

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  • Harshavardhan Reddy Kummitha

    (Department of Tourism, Faculty of Commerce, Hospitality and Tourism, Budapest Business School, H-1054 Budapest, Hungary)

  • Naveen Kolloju

    (Department of Civics and Ethical Studies, College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Arba Minch University, Arba Minch 4400, Ethiopia)

  • András Jancsik

    (Department of Tourism, Faculty of Commerce, Hospitality and Tourism, Budapest Business School, H-1054 Budapest, Hungary)

  • Zsófia Csilla Szalók

    (Department of Tourism, Faculty of Commerce, Hospitality and Tourism, Budapest Business School, H-1054 Budapest, Hungary)

Abstract

The literature emphasizes that tourism social entrepreneurs play an important role in the adoption of sustainable strategies to achieve social, environmental, and community development. Yet, there is limited research that aims to understand the relationship between local communities and tourism social entrepreneurship empirically. Building around social exchange theory and Weber’s theory of substantive and formal rationality, this study addresses the following research question: how do local communities perceive the role of tourism social entrepreneurship (TSE) in the development of ecotourism destinations? A total of 362 community employees of two ecotourism organizations in India participated in the survey. Analytically, this study validated the measurement model and tested hypotheses using structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings reveal that the economic benefits and environmental sustainability are the main influencing factors that are appreciated by the communities. However, we found variance in the community perceptions with regard to several factors being studied in the two TSEs we studied. This study recommends that in order to contribute to the development of ecotourism and local communities there is an urge to build strong ties among different stakeholders at the local level.

Suggested Citation

  • Harshavardhan Reddy Kummitha & Naveen Kolloju & András Jancsik & Zsófia Csilla Szalók, 2021. "Can Tourism Social Entrepreneurship Organizations Contribute to the Development of Ecotourism and Local Communities: Understanding the Perception of Local Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-15, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:19:p:11031-:d:650171
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Korma Mesfin & Kolloju Naveen & Kummitha Harshavardhan Reddy & Kareem Mohanad Ali, 2022. "Impact of Organizational Culture on Organisational Performance: A Study on the Employees in Educational Institutions," Business Systems Research, Sciendo, vol. 13(1), pages 138-155, June.
    2. Despina Saghin & Luminița-Mirela Lăzărescu & Liliana Daniela Diacon & Maria Grosu, 2022. "Residents’ Perceptions of Tourism: A Decisive Variable in Stimulating Entrepreneurial Intentions and Activities in Tourism in the Mountainous Rural Area of the North-East Region of Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-30, August.
    3. Chris Roberts & Joel Reynolds & Mary Jo Dolasinski, 2022. "Meta-Analysis of Tourism Sustainability Research: 2019–2021," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-18, March.

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