Identifying the challenges facing the development of entrepreneurial businesses in sports tourism in Iran

Sports tourism is a good platform for entrepreneurs in the country. However, there are many challenges ahead for entrepreneurial businesses in Iranian sports tourism; Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify the challenges facing the development of entrepreneurial businesses in sports tourism in Iran. This research has a qualitative approach and the content analysis method and Glaser approach have been used as the research method. The method of data collection is the study of theoretical foundations and in-depth and open interviews with 12 prominent professors in the field of sports management, entrepreneurship and tourism, as well as entrepreneurs in the field of sports tourism. To analyze the data, the continuous comparison method was used during the two stages of open and axial coding using the Max-Cody software of the Pro version. Analysis of the data showed that 41 concepts and 7 categories are among the challenges facing the development of entrepreneurial businesses in sports tourism in Iran. Among the identified challenges are security, health, cultural and social challenges, human resources, political and legal, information, communication and economic. Solving the challenges facing Iranian sports tourism entrepreneurial businesses can be one of the goals of the responsible organizations (Ministry of Sports and Youth, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade, Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and Radio TV) be.