Entrepreneurs in Rural Tourism: Reciprocal Influence of the Environment and Personal Factors on Business Management

Sustainability can be analyzed for companies and the environment in which they operate; additionally, there are reciprocal impacts of companies on the sustainability of their environment and the environment on the sustainability of companies. Against this backdrop, this study aimed to identify the mutual impact of companies and the environment by investigating the case of rural tourism enterprises in an area with unique geographical, historical, and cultural characteristics, namely, the area near the Cotacachi-Cayapas National Park in Ecuador. In addition, it is essential to consider the characteristics of tourism enterprises and the role of personal factors of entrepreneurs. To accomplish this, qualitative research was carried out through in-depth interviews, and the data were subjected to content analysis, demonstrating validity and reliability. This study also complied with the criteria of rigor and transparency since the intention was to understand the mutual impact of tourism enterprises and the environment on sustainability and the associated factors. The results allow us to identify a complementary relationship between enterprises and the tourist space. However, there is also an apparent contradiction in the role of this space, as it was found that this space facilitates the performance of tourism enterprises but can also limit more proactive management in terms of marketing or relations with customers and other actors of the environment due to the attitude of the entrepreneurs; this is the main novel finding and contribution of this study. On the other hand, the family nature of these enterprises exerts positive effects on the motivation to undertake and remain in the business, as well as on ways of approaching teamwork.