Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Hospitality: The Relevance of Entrepreneurs’ Quality of Life

Abstract

Entrepreneurial ecosystems (EE) offer a novel approach to rethinking entrepreneurship in tourism destinations. Previous literature highlights the importance of quality of life and socio-emotional wealth as essential factors for entrepreneurial activity. In this context, hospitality entrepreneurs’ quality of life (HE-QoL) is an important factor that influences both business and private decisions. However, in EE literature social factors have been frequently overlooked as drivers of entrepreneurship. Therefore, this paper seeks to empirically deepen the knowledge of HE-QoL as a relevant factor for entrepreneurial activity in EE. Using a case study approach and drawing on the case of the tourism destination Serfaus (Tyrol, Austria), our findings emphasize the role of HE-QoL for shaping entrepreneurship and imply that HE-QoL is of major importance for EE. By drawing on socio-emotional wealth (SEW) and embeddedness literature, the theoretical contribution of this paper highlights the applicability of micro-level theories to understand the role of HE-QoL for EE.