Lifestyle Entrepreneurs in Hospitality : Using multiple case study to investigate lifestyle entrepreneurs' motives to engage in sustainable destination development

Abstract: A relatively small body of literature in tourism concentrates on lifestyle entrepreneurs in hospitality. Lifestyle entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs that create a business to alter their own lifestyle, interests, and well-being. They are people that are fueled by the desire for adventure and establish a business, usually away from their home country, to generate lifestyle benefits and quality of life. Lifestyle entrepreneurship in tourism is a growing trend and lifestyle entrepreneurs have been praised by previous scholars, for their nongrowth motivation and charismatic characteristics. This research aims to reconsider these entrepreneurs’ motives and values with the purpose of moving beyond their ambitions for themselves, and investigating their motivations and values towards the destination they are located in, and through this explore the role they might play in the development of the destination at large. Using a sample of small guesthouse and hotel owners located in different places around the world, the results show that even though the lifestyle entrepreneurs seem to be primarily motivated by generating well-being for self, the study identifies positive impacts of these entrepreneurs that should not be underestimated and could increase the competitiveness of their destination. The research suggests that promoting these entrepreneurs would contribute to sustainable destination development, considering the small-scale responsible tourism they seem to attract. However, results indicate that they might not be a reliable force for tourism development.