Social Entrepreneurship And Tourism: Setting The Stage

This chapter sets the conceptual foundation for the book. It provides a background on the development of thought around social entrepreneurship, and the scholars and organizations that have led to its development. After introducing various definitions of social entrepreneurship it then goes on to develop a definition of tourism social entrepreneurship (TSE). The terms 'tourism social entrepreneur' and 'tourism social enterprise' are also defined. An analysis of the current state of the tourism and hospitality industries and their market failures leads into a discussion of how TSE can transform the industry for the better. The chapter then describes how social entrepreneurship can effectively make changes to the economic and social systems that are no longer working in the world and in tourism. The status of tourism social entrepreneurship in industry, academia and education are then discussed. The final section of the chapter lays out the book's contents, its three sections and the topics of each chapter.