Abstract
Geographers have increasingly criticized the absence oftheoretical rigour characterizing studies of the tourismproduction system. Tourism entrepreneurship is one related researcharea that has not received the level of attention it deserves. Additionally,the role that innovation plays in small and medium tourism enterprises(SMTEs) has not been examined in depth. This paper focuses on astudy of entrepreneurial activity among SMTEs in a peripheral region,namely the Danish island of Bornholm. The study is based on thirtyin-depth, non-random, structured interviews with owners of tourism-relatedenterprises. An examination of the key characteristics of theseSMTEs provides evidence that most can be described as ‘gap-fillers’, companiesoperated by so-called ‘constrained’ or ‘non-entrepreneurs’, whichdo not display evidence of having adopted significant product or processinnovations. Among the key barriers to innovation identifiedare the extreme seasonality plaguing the island’s touristindustry and, related to this, the uncompetitive nature of the existingtourist industry.
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