IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/loceco/v27y2012i2p103-118.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring entrepreneurial skills and competencies in farm tourism

Author

Listed:
  • Chris Phelan
  • Richard Sharpley

Abstract

Diversification to farm tourism is increasingly seen as a viable development strategy to promote a more diverse and sustainable rural economy and to counter declining farm incomes. However, the dynamics of the modern farm tourism business and the entrepreneurial and competitive skills farmers require in making the transition from agriculture to a diversified enterprise remains limited. This article explores the range of skills and competencies that farmers in the North West of England identify as important when adopting a diversification strategy to farm tourism. The findings indicate that, whilst a range of managerial skills are valued by farmers, they lack many of the additional business and entrepreneurial competencies required for success. The article acknowledges the need to generate consensus on the requisite skill-set that farm tourism operators require.

Suggested Citation

  • Chris Phelan & Richard Sharpley, 2012. "Exploring entrepreneurial skills and competencies in farm tourism," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 27(2), pages 103-118, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:loceco:v:27:y:2012:i:2:p:103-118
    DOI: 10.1177/0269094211429654
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0269094211429654
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0269094211429654?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gerard Mcelwee, 2006. "Farmers As Entrepreneurs: Developing Competitive Skills," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 11(03), pages 187-206.
    2. Edward P. Lazear, 2004. "Balanced Skills and Entrepreneurship," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 208-211, May.
    3. Åstebro, Thomas & Thompson, Peter, 2011. "Entrepreneurs, Jacks of all trades or Hobos?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 637-649, June.
    4. Silva, Olmo, 2007. "The Jack-of-All-Trades entrepreneur: Innate talent or acquired skill?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 118-123, November.
    5. Jeremy Phillipson & Matthew Gorton & Marian Raley & Andrew Moxey, 2004. "Treating Farms as Firms? the Evolution of Farm Business Support from Productionist to Entrepreneurial Models," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 22(1), pages 31-54, February.
    6. Thomas Lans & Wim Hulsink & Herman Baert & Martin Mulder, 2008. "Entrepreneurship Education And Training In A Small Business Context: Insights From The Competence-Based Approach," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(04), pages 363-383.
    7. Gerard McElwee, 2008. "A taxonomy of entrepreneurial farmers," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 6(3), pages 465-478.
    8. Phillip, Sharon & Hunter, Colin & Blackstock, Kirsty, 2010. "A typology for defining agritourism," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 754-758.
    9. Pieter De Wolf & Gerard McElwee & Herman Schoorlemmer, 2007. "The European farm entrepreneur: a comparative perspective," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 4(6), pages 679-692.
    10. Ken Schallenkamp & William L. Smith, 2008. "Entrepreneurial skills assessment: the perspective of SBDC directors," International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 5(1), pages 18-29.
    11. Gregg A. Lichtenstein & Thomas S. Lyons, 2001. "The Entrepreneurial Development System: Transforming Business Talent and Community Economies," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 15(1), pages 3-20, February.
    12. Man, Thomas W. Y. & Lau, Theresa & Chan, K. F., 2002. "The competitiveness of small and medium enterprises: A conceptualization with focus on entrepreneurial competencies," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 123-142, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Raffaele Lagravinese, 2013. "Rural tourism and ancient traditions: Evidence from Italian regions," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 28(6), pages 614-626, September.
    2. Chris PHELAN & Claudia SIMA, 2020. "Farm Tourism And Rural Entrepreneurship: Identifying Managerial And Entrepreneurial Skills And Competencies," Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Institute of Agricultural Economics, vol. 17(2), pages 199-211.
    3. Mohammad Salman Shabbir & Mohd Noor Mohd Shariff & Arfan Shahzad, 2016. "Determinants of Entrepreneurial Skills set in Pakistan: A Pilot Study," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 6(2), pages 76-86, April.
    4. Luis Mayor & Line F. Lindner & Christoph F. Knöbl & Ana Ramalho & Remigio Berruto & Francesca Sanna & Daniele Rossi & Camilla Tomao & Billy Goodburn & Concha Avila & Marg Leijdens & Katharina Stollewe, 2022. "Skill Needs for Sustainable Agri-Food and Forestry Sectors (I): Assessment through European and National Focus Groups," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-24, August.
    5. EsuhOssai-Igwe Lucky, PhD, 2020. "Entrepreneurial Skills And Self Employed Intentions Among Nigerian Graduates National Youth Service Corp Members In Agbara," Noble International Journal of Business and Management Research, Noble Academic Publsiher, vol. 4(11), pages 111-116, November.
    6. Micheels, Eric T & Gow, Hamish R, 2013. "Market driven innovation and entrepreneurial behaviour: The strategic value of a market orientation in primary agriculture," International Journal of Agricultural Management, Institute of Agricultural Management, vol. 3(1), pages 1-9, October.
    7. Jing Li & Carla Barbieri, 2020. "Demystifying Members’ Social Capital and Networks within an Agritourism Association: A Social Network Analysis," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 1(1), pages 1-18, December.
    8. Nerisa N. Paladan, 2021. "Developing Farmers and Fisherfolks Entrepreneurial Capacity towards Community Based-Enterprise," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 5(12), pages 105-115, December.
    9. Talbot Mandy, 2013. "Farm Tourism in Wales. Products and Markets, Resources and Capabilities. The Experience of Six Farm Tourism Operators," European Countryside, Sciendo, vol. 5(4), pages 275-294, December.
    10. Janette Brunstein & Silvia Bertossi Heidrich & Rubens de Araújo Amaro, 2016. "Competencies for a Fair Play in Organizations: a Phenomenographic Analysis of Managers' Conceptions," Brazilian Business Review, Fucape Business School, vol. 13(2), pages 105-134, March.
    11. Carlos Alberto Cortés-Rodríguez & Gladys Martínez-Gómez & José Luis Romo-Lozano & Ezequiel Arvizu-Barrón, 2023. "Evaluation of the Entrepreneurial Ability of Small-Scale Farmers through the Rasch–Andrich Model," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-14, March.
    12. Chris PHELAN & Claudia SIMA, 2022. "Farming Tourism: A Review Of Entrepreneurial Skills," Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Institute of Agricultural Economics, vol. 19(1), pages 101-111.
    13. Leanne Townsend & Arjuna Sathiaseelan & Gorry Fairhurst & Claire Wallace, 2013. "Enhanced broadband access as a solution to the social and economic problems of the rural digital divide," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 28(6), pages 580-595, September.
    14. Sarah Fitz-Koch & Mattias Nordqvist & Sara Carter & Erik Hunter, 2018. "Entrepreneurship in the Agricultural Sector: A Literature Review and Future Research Opportunities," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(1), pages 129-166, January.
    15. Dubois, Charline & Cawley, Mary & Schmitz, Serge, 2017. "The tourist on the farm: A ‘muddled’ image," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 298-311.
    16. Christian Kjær Monsson, 2014. "Development without a metropolis: Inspiration for non-metropolitan support practices from Denmark," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 29(4-5), pages 295-308, June.
    17. McGehee, Nancy Gard & Kline, Carol & Knollenberg, Whitney, 2014. "Social movements and tourism-related local action," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 140-155.
    18. Robert Smith & Gillian Conley & Anne MJ Smith & Gerard McElwee, 2016. "Assessing the impact of ‘farming with dyslexia’ on local rural economies," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 31(5), pages 529-538, August.
    19. Doh, Kyungrok & Park, Sangwon & Kim, Dae-Young, 2017. "Antecedents and consequences of managerial behavior in agritourism," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 511-522.
    20. Chris PHELAN & Claudia SIMA, 2021. "British Agrotourism Before, During And After The Covid19 Pandemic," Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Institute of Agricultural Economics, vol. 18(2), pages 217-230.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Emilio Pindado & Mercedes Sánchez, 2017. "Researching the entrepreneurial behaviour of new and existing ventures in European agriculture," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 421-444, August.
    2. Michelacci, Claudio & Schivardi, Fabiano, 2020. "Are they all like Bill, Mark, and Steve? The education premium for entrepreneurs," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    3. Michael Peneder, 2009. "The Meaning of Entrepreneurship: A Modular Concept," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 77-99, June.
    4. De Rosa, Marcello & McElwee, Gerard & Smith, Robert, 2019. "Farm diversification strategies in response to rural policy: a case from rural Italy," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 291-301.
    5. Alina Sorgner & Michael Fritsch, 2013. "Occupational Choice and Self-Employment: Are They Related?," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 533, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    6. Hårsman, Björn & Mattsson, Lars-Göran, 2017. "Resolving the entrepreneurship puzzle: Applying Fréchet distributions to Lazear’s occupational choice model," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 458, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, revised 22 Feb 2018.
    7. Somayeh Tohidyan Far & Kurosh Rezaei-Moghaddam, 2019. "Multifunctional agriculture: an approach for entrepreneurship development of agricultural sector," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 9(1), pages 1-23, December.
    8. Panagiotis Ganotakis, 2012. "Founders’ human capital and the performance of UK new technology based firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 495-515, September.
    9. Pankaj C. Patel & Yoav Ganzach, 2019. "Returns to balance in cognitive skills for the self-employed: evidence from 18 countries," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 89-109, January.
    10. Viktoria Graskemper & Xiaohua Yu & Jan‐Henning Feil, 2021. "Analyzing strategic entrepreneurial choices in agriculture—Empirical evidence from Germany," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(3), pages 569-589, July.
    11. Elisabeth Bublitz & Michael Fritsch & Michael Wyrwich, 2015. "Balanced Skills and the City: An Analysis of the Relationship between Entrepreneurial Skill Balance, Thickness, and Innovation," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 91(4), pages 475-508, October.
    12. Daniel Lechmann & Claus Schnabel, 2014. "Are the self-employed really jacks-of-all-trades? Testing the assumptions and implications of Lazear’s theory of entrepreneurship with German data," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 59-76, January.
    13. Jolanda Hessels & Udo Brixy & Wim Naudé & Thomas Gries, 2014. "Skill Variety, Innovation and New Business Formation," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 14-011/VII, Tinbergen Institute.
    14. Alina Sorgner & Michael Fritsch, 2018. "Entrepreneurial career paths: occupational context and the propensity to become self-employed," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 129-152, June.
    15. Strohmeyer, Robert & Tonoyan, Vartuhi & Jennings, Jennifer E., 2017. "Jacks-(and Jills)-of-all-trades: On whether, how and why gender influences firm innovativeness," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 498-518.
    16. Peter Orazem & Robert Jolly & Li Yu, 2015. "Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur? The impacts of skills developed before, during and after college on firm start-ups," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-27, December.
    17. Li-Wei Chen & Peter Thompson, 2016. "Skill Balance and Entrepreneurship Evidence from Online Career Histories," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(2), pages 289-305, March.
    18. Marco Vivarelli, 2013. "Is entrepreneurship necessarily good? Microeconomic evidence from developed and developing countries," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 22(6), pages 1453-1495, December.
    19. Škare, Marinko & Blanco-Gonzalez-Tejero, Cristina & Crecente, Fernando & del Val, Maria Teresa, 2022. "Scientometric analysis on entrepreneurial skills - creativity, communication, leadership: How strong is the association?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    20. Mohammad Salman Shabbir & Mohd Noor Mohd Shariff & Arfan Shahzad, 2016. "Determinants of Entrepreneurial Skills set in Pakistan: A Pilot Study," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 6(2), pages 76-86, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:loceco:v:27:y:2012:i:2:p:103-118. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/index.shtml .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.