Abstract
As part of research on a new generation of rural tourism that integrates professional entrepreneurship and sustainability, this study examines how growth-oriented Millennial In-migrant Tourism Entrepreneurs (MMTEs) in South Korea adopt sustainable entrepreneurship, using a case study approach. Drawing on four ventures and analyzing them through entrepreneurial decision-making logics—effectuation and causation—as well as a Cultural Political Economy perspective, the study finds that sustainable entrepreneurship is often employed as a strategic decision-making logic in interaction with contextual factors. Sustainable entrepreneurship tends to emerge more frequently through effectuation—since sustainability initiatives can sometimes constrain causation-driven ventures—and across the four cases, three types of practices were identified: (1) prioritizing community well-being over profit, (2) identity-driven innovation in rural tourism, and (3) co-creating rural revitalization with local communities. The Cultural Political Economy perspective reveals that these practices are shaped by, and respond to, specific cultural, social, and political contexts in the pursuit of business survival and growth. These contexts include: the political context of government support for young entrepreneurs revitalizing rural areas through tourism; the social context of local residents’ perceptions of MMTEs, rural labor shortages, and post-productivist transitions; and the cultural context of evolving consumer trends in rural tourism. MMTEs adopt sustainable entrepreneurship to gain legitimacy in using local resources, enhance product competitiveness, and secure access to funding and support within these contexts. In doing so, their digital fluency and ability to fuse historical values with contemporary trends enable them to advance rural tourism as a professional industry.
Presenters
Eun Young YouStudent, PhD Candidate, Wageningen University & Research, Gelderland, Netherlands
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2026 Special Focus—Pathways to Resilience; Sustainable Practices in Tourism and Leisure
KEYWORDS
Rural Tourism, Sustainable Entrepreneurship, Millennial In-Migrant Entrepreneurs, Rural Revitalization
