Abstract
Tourism is an important driver of economic growth for many regions and the Iberian Peninsula is no exception. As the editors note in Chapter 1, the impact of tourism on the Iberian economy is significant, based on the exploitation of natural resource capital favourable to exporting services, and attracts flows of people, expenditure and investment. Entrepreneurship has long been identified as a key driver of tourism development (Carlisle et al., 2013), which explains why ‘tourism’ and ‘entrepreneurship’ are inextricably linked and is the focus of this book.
In reading the title of this volume, one may question the utility of a book focussing specifically on tourism entrepreneurship in Portugal and Spain. However, I would argue that such a focussed approach is key, seeing as for tourism entrepreneurship the place and territorial component cannot be separated from the product/service and is an integral part of both tourism supply and demand. Thus, this book effectively responds to this line of thinking by exploring a range of issues in tourism entrepreneurship within the boundaries of the Iberian Peninsula.
To present the diverse streams of research within this region, this volume uses the edited book approach, providing a collection of fifteen tourism entrepreneurship studies curated by three leading academics in tourism entrepreneurship research in the region and globally. This gives the reader access to a range of research topics and methodologies related to the study of tourism entrepreneurship in the Iberian Peninsula. I was pleased to see that many of the major themes in entrepreneurship are covered, from innovation and creativity (Chapters 2, 11 and 13), to product/service quality (Chapters 3, 8 and 12), sustainability (Chapter 5), networking (Chapter 6), marketing (Chapter 7) and profitability (Chapter 10). These chapters are informative and well-executed in terms of their research rigour and, in my view, the insights provided that are specific to the Iberian region sets this book apart from existing texts in entrepreneurship.
Several chapters stood out for me as being enlightening reads. These present, in my opinion, novel and contemporary discourses for tourism entrepreneurship in the region. Chapter 2, for example, presents a rigorous application of multicriteria decision modelling to illustrate the key drivers for incremental and disruptive innovation. My attention was specifically drawn towards how the authors’ results were able to rank the level of influence specific actors, such as staff, mentors and investors, have in driving innovation. I believe scholars and industry practitioners will find this extremely useful in planning where resources should be allocated to increase the effectiveness of the innovation development process.
Considering how the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on physical and mental health, Chapter 4 discusses in a timely manner the opportunities for tourism enterprises and policy makers to innovate within the intersection of spirituality and mindful tourism. It was pleasing to read how the authors considered spiritual and mindful tourism as not just a commercial opportunity, but a chance to raise an individual’s self-development and wellbeing. I think readers will appreciate the holistic view the authors have taken to discussing the subject and will find plenty of food for thought within the chapter.
Chapter 7 presents a well-detailed investigation of the intensity of social media use in Extremadura, an autonomous community in Spain, using grouping analysis. I found the nuanced detail of the methods and data analysis particularly interesting and believe they would serve future researchers interested in conducting geostatistical analysis well. I was also surprised to learn in the chapter that a large proportion of rural accommodation establishments did not have a Facebook profile, even when contemporary studies have demonstrated that being absent from social media is tantamount to being out of the tourism market. This to me demonstrated the strength of the research in uncovering insights that may otherwise be hidden, and the recommendations provided by the authors would be of interest to regional governments looking to re-invigorate tourism activity post-COVID-19.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also driven the adoption of new ways of working, and Chapter 9 picks up on this by identifying remote work and digital nomadism as an opportunity to boost the recovery of peripheral territories. I felt that a well-rounded discussion of this topic was provided, especially in relation to acknowledging the importance of community support and the social impact of the phenomenon. Thus, I am confident that those seeking to understand the nuances of this emerging trend, and the barriers and best practises to innovate in tourism strategies in peripheral places, would find good value in perusing this chapter.
Health and safety concerns are now at the forefront of guest perceptions of service quality for tourism enterprises, with Chapter 14 presenting a fitting study that evaluates Portuguese and Spanish guests’ hotel safety perceptions during the COVID-19 pandemic and proposes changes needed to be implemented by the hotel industry to address the safety concerns of tourists from each country. The findings have good practical value, as the study captures an array of guest perceptions and provides specific recommendations that practitioners can implement to personalize hotel offers. I thought that the chapter was a good demonstration of how research can effectively inform practice, thus, I would encourage readers to take note of how the authors crafted this chapter to bring research to industry.
Due to the nature of edited books that present a collection of research studies, I will concede that the flow between each chapter is not always clearly articulated and that there are variations in the depth of content among the chapters. Additionally, I would have preferred the inclusion of a final summary chapter that ties each chapter’s findings into one final takeaway message for readers. However, these are minor issues that should not distract from the usefulness of the book as an essential text for anyone seeking to understand tourism entrepreneurship in Portugal and Spain.
For students and researchers, the book will be a useful resource that showcases the breadth of topics and methodologies available to study tourism entrepreneurship in the Iberian region. Policy makers and practitioners may also find useful insights from the book with reference to the content that speaks to regional planning and policymaking. Finally, academics from the Iberian region have produced significant research contributions to the study of tourism in general, and tourism entrepreneurship in particular. Therefore, in my opinion this book provides a suitable home that collates the latest research in tourism entrepreneurship from Iberian based researchers and is a timely text to chart a way forward for the re-thinking of tourism in the Iberian region.