Factors affecting entrepreneurial opportunities recognition in tourism small and medium sized enterprises

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the antecedents of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaire data were collected from 220 senior tourism business members in Iran. Findings The results show that an individual’s self-efficacy, prior knowledge and social networks, all had positive effects on entrepreneurial alertness. Also, entrepreneurial alertness contributed significantly to entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. Research limitations/implications The findings show that social network was the most important predictor among all other of the antecedents of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. Because the data were limited to tourism industry, future studies need to validate these findings in other industries. Practical Implications Findings of this study suggest that to increase entrepreneurial opportunity recognition ability, it is critical for tourism businesses to invest in developing and enhancing individual ability. Originality/value The value of this paper lies in its contribution to understanding better the predictors to become entrepreneurs in tourism. Particularly, the paper adds to the existing literature by showing that the key success factors for entrepreneurial alertness are individual abilities, especially individual social contacts. People who want to work in the tourism industry should promote own communication network with other businesses and people to find new entrepreneurial opportunities. It is better they work in areas that have enough prior knowledge and experiences.