Green entrepreneuring in tourism experience for behaviour change

Abstract

Tourism entrepreneurs have the responsibility to adopt and promote more sustainable behaviours. By drawing on the understanding of entrepreneurship as practice and focusing on environmental sustainability, this chapter explores the case of an ecotourism company and its experience design process for behaviour change. This process is conceptualised as a complex entrepreneurial practice composed of the following components observed in the investigated case: 1) reflecting, visioning and strategizing, 2) weaving, 3) embroidering, 4) bricolage and 5) quilting. The main contribution of the study is the use of a practice-based approach to studying experience design by entrepreneurs and the conceptualisation of this process across various components of the company’s sustainable business model. Methodologically, this study presents an example of cross-boundary collaboration between the academic, industry and nonprofit sectors, which emerged and developed based on a shared vision involving tourism, the environment and individual responsibility.