Designing Entrepreneurship Development Model for cultural tourism in Yazd, the World Heritage City

"Due to its very nature, tourism enjoys proper grounds for entrepreneurship development. There are limited studies on the development of entrepreneurship in tourism. Among the growing areas of tourism, ‘Cultural Tourism’ could be referred to as a demanding preference for development in areas with the potentials for growth. This study sought to provide a model for entrepreneurship development in cultural tourism using Grounded theory. To this end, some eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the required data, out of which and 367 primary codes, 97 secondary codes, 44 concept codes were extracted and classified into ten distinct categories. The study’s population consisted of university instructors and lecturers, experts working in state-owned tourism institutions, the owners of active businesses in Yazd cultural tourism, and the professionals within the field who were selected through ‘theoretical sampling.’ Moreover, the sample size was determined based on theoretical saturation. The study’s results found via the application of the ‘three-pronged model’ indicated that factors involved in the development of cultural tourism entrepreneurship could be categorized in three general categories of ‘structural factors,’ grounds and ‘environmental conditions, and ‘behavioral factors,’ each including their own relevant components and indices.