The effect of prior knowledge on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition (the Case study of tourism agencies participating in tourism fairs in Shiraz)

In general, the entrepreneurial process is divided in two smaller process called "opportunity discovery" and "opportunity exploitation". The major focus of this research is the process of discovery. Prior knowledge of entrepreneurs was recognized as one of the main factors influencing opportunity recognition process. The tourism industry has great potential for entrepreneurial activity and those who are entering in this field have different levels of education and skill. The aim of this study is to identify the role of previous knowledge in the discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities. In order to evaluate the effect of previous knowledge to identify opportunities, four dimensions of prior knowledge identified based on literature review, then a conceptual model was developed and the assumptions were determined. The measures of and research and questions were determined based on literature review. The validity of its content was checked based on expert opinion.
Statistical data is collected from the entire community, including senior executives of 80 tourism agencies. 67 questionnaires were completed. The research results suggest that technology and market knowledge has a direct and significant impact on opportunity recognition. But market has no service knowledge has no effect on opportunity recognition. The results also showed a significant correlation between market knowledge and opportunity recognition.