Regional community entrepreneurship through tourism: the case of Victoria's rail trails

Tourism is considered to be central to the development of many regional communities, however understanding the complex nature of tourism and its relationship with community development is often limited. Many require not only individual entrepreneurs to develop businesses, but also a community-based entrepreneurial approach is needed to fully realise the potential. To further understand this situation, this paper considers the case of the development of rail trails as a form of cycle tourism and recreation in regional Australia. Findings include evidence of the strong economic benefit these trails bring to regional communities as well as concluding that, in order for the economic and associated social benefits to be realised, community-based planning and support is necessary.