The Human Driving Forces of Entrepreneurship Development in Tourism Sector: A Case Study of the Village of Istgah Bisheh in Khorramabad County

Tourist areas have a high potential for employment and entrepreneurship activities especially when human resources are also available. The purpose of this study was to investigate the human resource factors necessary for the development of entrepreneurship in the tourist area of Bisheh in Khorramabad County. The research was quantitative in nature. Also, in terms of purpose, it was a type of applied research conducted using a survey method. The statistical population of the study consisted of 1190 rural people at the age of 15-64 years who were living in Istgahe Bisheh in 2017. The sample size was determined by using Krejcie and Morgan table, and 291 people were randomly selected. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire whose face validity was confirmed by experts. The reliability of the questionnaire was also examined by conducting a pilot study and calculating the Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.88-0.99).The findings showed that the objective driving forces in the Bisheh region were in a medium status. Among the subjective driving forces, only social security ranked higher than standard (3.80). Based on a cluster analysis, the rural people were divided into three groups: ready, semi-ready, and unready. Analysis of variance showed that, among the objective driving forces, education, counseling and experiences were different in the semi-ready and unready groups. As for the subjective factors, however, they were all different among the groups except for social participation. Finally, based on the results of the research, suggestions were made to develop entrepreneurship activities in the region.