tourism is one of the most potential industries in iran, which has many capabilities to start new businesses, and if the numerous opportunities that exist in this field are well used, it can provide the basis for entrepreneurship, job creation and income generation.despite the importance of entrepreneurship in tourism, today the country and the wider world is involved in a crisis called the corona virus, which has severely affected tourism. this article aims to identify the factors affecting tourism entrepreneurship in crisis situations and to examine the intensity of the relationship between the factors. the present research is of applied, exploratory and qualitative research. the statistical population includes experts in the tourism sector in isfahan. in the first stage, by reviewing the theoretical literature and in-depth study of sources, in-depth semi-structured interviews with experts and conducting data theory theory process, effective factors and components were identified and in the second stage to investigate the causal relationships and the intensity of their relationships. fuzzy cognitive mapping (fcm) is used. the results show that based on studies, four socio-cultural, environmental and infrastructural, economic and institutional factors affect tourism entrepreneurship and environmental and infrastructure factors are most strongly related to tourism entrepreneurship. in addition, each of the mentioned factors are related to each other and affect each other, and in this way have also affected the tourism entrepreneurship variable.
extended abstract
introduction
tourism is a new approach that can play a major role in empowering local people and developing human resources, economic diversification and growth, creating job opportunities and improving living standards through the provision of social services. in 2020, when jobs and entrepreneurship were to flourish in the world tourism industry, with the advent and spread of covid-19 in the world, the tourism industry engine was shut down all over the world. in order to improve the entrepreneurial situation of tourism in crisis situations, the factors that can affect its expansion should be identified and focusing on these factors, solutions should be reviewed and implemented. this article aims to identify the factors affecting tourism entrepreneurship in crisis situations and to examine the intensity of the relationship between the factors. the city of isfahan as one of the most important historical cities in iran has many tourist attractions to attract tourists. the historical, architectural and urban features of this city have made it a distinct destination. due to the importance of this city in the tourism industry in various fields, especially urban tourism, this study was conducted in isfahan.
methodology
this research is classified as descriptive research based on the type of purpose, except for applied research and based on collecting the required data. the main purpose of this study is to identify the relationships between the variables affecting tourism entrepreneurship in crisis situations and has been done in two stages. in the first stage, in order to identify the effective factors in tourism entrepreneurship in crisis situations, a qualitative method has been used. the field study was performed using foundation data theory. the statistical population includes academic experts, private sector activists and government managers in the tourism sector in isfahan. the method of sampling is snowball. the sample size of the research is determined based on theoretical saturation. in the second stage, in order to investigate the causal relationships and the intensity of their relationships, the fuzzy cognitive mapping method has been used. semi-structured interview method was used to collect information. also, a questionnaire was used to determine the effect or not of the factors on each other and also on the tourism entrepreneurship variable using the likert scale, which was completed by the interviewee at the end of each interview.
results and discussion
tourism entrepreneurship is a very important issue and in terms of the role that this type of entrepreneurship has in achieving sustainable development, it should be considered what are the dimensions and components affecting tourism entrepreneurship and how tourism entrepreneurship opportunities are achieved, so that a specific model was achieved. based on the study, four categories of factors affecting tourism entrepreneurship in crisis situations and the components of each were identified using the opinion of experts and the method of data theory of the foundation. three components related to institutional factors, five components related to environmental and infrastructure factors, two components related to economic factors and three components related to cultural and social factors were identified. in the next step, a fuzzy questionnaire and cognitive mapping method were used to examine the relationships between the variables. based on the results, it was observed that the environmental-infrastructure factor has the greatest impact on the tourism entrepreneurship variable in crisis situations.
conclusion
this article is in line with the work of previous researchers and with emphasis on the results of their research for the first time with the aim of investigating the factors affecting tourism entrepreneurship in crisis (corona virus) in isfahan. for this study, in the first stage, the data theory method of the foundation and in the second stage, the fuzzy cognitive mapping method has been used. in examining the results, it is found that four socio-cultural, environmental and infrastructural, economic and institutional factors have influenced tourism entrepreneurship in crisis situations and also these factors are related to each other, which can be the basis for creating a conceptual model for develop a tourism entrepreneurship model to be in crisis. in reviewing the research findings, it has been determined that all the studied elements are of the type of ordinary variables that are both effective and influential. this means that in addition to affecting other variables, they are also affected by other variables, which complicates the design of a conceptual model for tourism entrepreneurship. the existence of a relationship between the four factors affecting tourism entrepreneurship means that these factors, in addition to affecting the tourism entrepreneurship variable, also affect the development of tourism entrepreneurship by influencing each other. this is especially true for the relationship between environmental and infrastructure factors and economic factors, which shows that the stronger the environmental conditions and health and tourism infrastructure, the better the economic factors and the more economic factors expand. , cause better environmental and infrastructure conditions. also, in the study, it was found that environmental and infrastructural factors have the greatest impact on the tourism entrepreneurship variable in crisis situations. after that, there were economic and institutional factors, and finally cultural and social factors. this indicates that under normal circumstances, tourists paid less attention to health infrastructure or health protocols to choose a tourist destination, but in times of crisis, corona is the main factor for choosing a tourist destination. and naturally has the greatest impact on entrepreneurship. based on the results of the research as well as interviews with experts, a number of suggestions are provided to improve the situation of tourism businesses:
-holding tourism entrepreneurship training courses in crisis situations for accommodation and food centers.
-marketing to ensure compliance with all health protocols and gain the trust of tourists and e-marketing to attract tourists is one of the strategies of market penetration strategies that experts mentioned to attract tourists back to hotels and resorts.
-capacity of restaurants and hotels until it is ensured that the risk of infectious diseases is completely eliminated
-providing sanitary equipment to tourists in tourist facilities and places
-establishing an online store and offering outdoor food by hotel restaurants was a product development strategy
-establishment of tourism insurance companies, establishment of the crisis fund of the ministry of cultural heritage, handicrafts and tourism
-manpower and management training in the tourism industry and related businesses as the key to success in crisis management
-government support for tourism businesses affected by the crisis, honoring researchers and innovators and ideas in the field of tourism businesses in crisis