ABSTRACT
Entrepreneurship and innovation are inextricably linked, although in Schumpeter’s pioneering writings there is ambiguity as to whether the entrepreneur is a heroic figure and leader of change or provides the mechanism through which structurally informed innovation is implemented. Entrepreneurs have a number of distinctive characteristics, amongst which is their relationships to risk and especially to uncertainty: entrepreneurs respond innovatively to these characteristics, but also have to navigate their innovations through these conditions. SMEs play a particularly important role in tourism innovation, but so do large companies and ‘heroic’ individual figures such as Thomas Cook. More generally, all individual entrepreneurs’ innovative behaviour is shaped by a mixture of structural, network and individual characteristics. The picture of the role of the entrepreneur inevitably becomes more complex the more that it is investigated. First, the motivations of the entrepreneurs are not reducible to simple profit goals because, especially in tourism, they are also infused with lifestyle notions. Another complexity is that innovation is usually a collective endeavour, and family enterprises are particularly important in some tourism segments. Further complexity is added by the technology driven changes that contribute to what has become known as the sharing economy. This has many manifestations but of particular importance in tourism is the use of platforms to market and utilize assets, such as accommodation. These provide opportunities for individuals to experience entrepreneurship, and to innovate, within a strongly supportive marketing and technological framework. Despite the complexity of entrepreneurship when viewed up close, there is no denying the key role played by entrepreneurs, and by small firms as drivers of innovation. The evidence on the innovativeness of small versus large firms is not conclusive but does more than hint at the way in which the greater organizational flexibility of small firms makes them more agile in terms of innovation. However, any such conclusions are likely to be time and place specific, and a notable feature of recent years has been the rapid creation of opportunities for micro entrepreneurship through the growth of the sharing economy. An intriguing but as yet unanswered question is whether this is a route to further entrepreneurship and innovation.
