Entrepreneurship serves as a pivotal solution to address the economic challenges faced by nations. Given the positive impacts of tourism activities in rural areas, experts recognize it as a cultural instrument for fostering entrepreneurship in villages. This study aims to develop a strategic entrepreneurship model for the rural tourism industry through a cultural lens. Employing a mixed-methods approach (qualitative and quantitative) with grounded theory, the research gathered quantitative data from a statistical population of 384 participants, while qualitative insights were derived from 20 semi-structured interviews. Data analysis utilized SPSS25 for structural exploration and AMOS for composite reliability (CR) assessment via structural equation modeling. Key findings identified causal factors (e.g., value creation in rural tourism, effective rural tourism promotion, risk-taking, self-efficacy, and innovation among villagers and farmers), contextual factors (e.g., cultural interactions, awareness of cultural heritage, cultural development, and cultural education), intervening factors (e.g., environmental-regional infrastructure, social dynamics, and motivational drivers), and strategic pillars (e.g., essential R&D, organizational support, and management planning). The implementation of these strategies yielded outcomes such as rural income diversification, enhanced competitiveness of small businesses, employment generation, and increased productivity and revenue growth. This study concludes that a culturally informed approach to rural tourism entrepreneurship offers a novel strategy for rural economic development, effectively diversifying income sources and fostering sustainable progress.
Shirmohammadi et al. (2025) studied this question.