The Relation of Training and Knowledge with Development of Ecotourism Entrepreneurship (A Case Study of Desert Regions of Kerman)

The subject of ecotourism entrepreneurship development is shaping the concept of environmental economy in local communities which differs from other types of entrepreneurship in some extent. Ecotourism requires a series of conductive factors and provision of environmental conditions for formation and realization to enhance ecotourism entrepreneurship interest, motivation and entrepreneurial skills compatible with environment and the needs of stakeholders in ecotourism. The present research aimed to examine the relation of training and awareness as two effective factors in development of ecotourism entrepreneurship in a desert area of Khour and Biabanank. The methodology of the research is based on descriptive-analytical approaches by conducting a field work to complete the given questionnaires. The data were processed using SPSS and different statistical were applied regarding to the aim and nature of data. The main statistical tests included Friedman, one tailed t test and Pearson correlation. The results revealed that the level of training and knowledge in entrepreneurship placed in an appropriate level. There has been a positive correlation between ecotourism entrepreneurship and the level of training and awareness. So it can be concluded that by increasing the level of training the level of ecotourism entrepreneurship will increase considerably.
Introduction Today the role and impact of entrepreneurship on the socio-economic growth and development and employment is completely discernible. So that, this era is coined as entrepreneurship era by some scholars. Tourism is one of the economic sectors that contribute to the high level of entrepreneurial activities. However entrepreneurship in tourism is not the only way of job and income increase but it can certainly be the greatest and most productive means. The studies from experimental researches show the matter of entrepreneurship can develop more by training. With the arrivals of sociologists in the field of studies the significance of entrepreneurship in various sectors especially training became increasingly evident. So it, led to increase of efforts for development of entrepreneurship in tourism and education in the past two decades. The township of Khour and Biabanak with its capacities has been considered by private investors in the field of ecotourism in the recent decade. In this research examines the relation of training and knowledge as two effective factors on the ecotourism entrepreneurship in the region.
Materials and Methods The research method is a questionnaire-based survey. Ecotourism entrepreneurship development considered as dependent; and training and knowledge components as independent variables. The indices of the research were identified from scientific resources and the validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts (mainly university professors) and then was completed by the heads of households. The reliability of the questionnaires was calculated using Cronbach and the volume of samples were obtained via Cochran which 200 persons. To complete the questionnaire, the available simple random were used. The data were processed using SPSS and the statistical tests were applied regarding to the nature of data and the purposes of the research in two levels of descriptive and inferential findings. In descriptive finding only the personal information of respondents are described and in inferential findings were analyzed using one sample t test; also Pearson correlation was applied to understand the impact of independent variable on the dependent one.
Discussion and Results On the base of results, it can be discussed that that each three components have good condition. Also there is significant relation between training and knowledge with ecotourism entrepreneurship regarding to the Pearson correlation. So ecotourism entrepreneurship can create employment opportunities for rural residents which ultimately such trend can preserve local resources and people to stay in the region and develop community sustainability.
Conclusion With respect to the results and discussion, the development of ecotourism entrepreneurship should follow policies which create public knowledge about the benefits of this approach in the economy and local communities. The increase of educational programs to train local stakeholders relevant to tourism by enhancing a series of chain small and intermediate activities can change the attitudes of local people and bring prosperity into the region.