Small Tourism Firms: Owners, Environment and Management Practices

Tourism industry in the last three decades has benefited directly from the new economic order that has emerged in post-industrial society in which tourist activity has become a privileged production space as it has turned into one of the sophisticated occupations of the service sector.The changing structure of tourism consumption is, amongst other forces, underpinned by particular social changes of consumers.This new opportunity is a new challenge for these businesses as the volatile and less predictable trading environment places for the owner’s strategies for managing small operations. This book, based on an extensive empirical research offers a rare reference for understanding the position of small tourism firms’ development, with an ultimate aim to advance theory relating to small tourism firms by the synthesis of concepts drawn from the amalgamation of current paradigms evident within the management, small firms, and tourism literature. In the book, the author argues that factors that contribute to small tourism business management practice and performance are rather complex and multi-dimensional in nature, and not solely limited to owner/manager managerial ability.