Tourism and hospitality entrepreneurship, social setting and research methodology: moving ‘into the beyond’

Abstract

This paper provides an insight into the research issues and challenges that confronted PhD research into small hotels in Croatia, drawing on theories and literature associated with entrepreneurship, and tourism and hospitality entrepreneurship. In particular, it analyses the tensions and contradictions inherent in a literature that is largely derived from developed economies, dominated by an economics-centric bias, and positivistic methodologies. Relevance within the social, cultural and political setting is questioned and research approaches developed that have the potential to increase relevance for both advancement of respective academic fields, and practitioner and policy maker effectiveness – moving into the ‘beyond’. It is concluded that knowledge creation and production pertaining to both fields can be enhanced through multi-disciplinary perspectives that are critical of ideological stance, politics of power, social and cultural contexts. This has consequences for research methodological design which places the researcher as a central insider participant in the process alongside the social actors, drawing on personal reflexivity and interpretative powers, in a socio-economic setting.

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