The central role of leadership in rural tourism development: a theoretical framework and case studies

Abstract

In the unique environment of rural tourism, leadership is often credited for the initiation and governance of sustainable development, but has received little empirical examination. Rural tourism leaders face many challenges, such as managing factions and enclaves within communities, re-assuring new entrants about risk and vulnerability, securing long-term commitment amongst leaders, establishing continuity from one leader to the next, and coordinating cooperative governance across numerous governmental and non-governmental organizations. This article uses the case study method to provide sketches of three rural tourism leaders who have been successful in their communities. Each leader utilizes a different approach, including Servant, Shared/Community-Based, and Authentic Leadership. The Networks View of social capital is utilized to analyze each case to help discover the sources of success of these three individuals and their communities. While this approach has been previously utilized at the community level, this study explores an individuals' ability to embody social capital. The article concludes with observations that both bridging and bonding social capital are important to the success of these rural tourism leaders, regardless of their leadership approach. Such observations are valuable for rural communities as they struggle with the challenges of cultivating and sustaining effective leadership and governance.

乡村旅游业发展的领导力核心作用：理论框架和案例研究

在乡村旅游这个独特的环境中，领导力通常会被归结于初始化和可持续发展的管理，却很少得到过检验论证。乡村旅游业的领导者们面临着许多挑战，例如，管理内讧和社区内飞地，使新的进入者对风险和脆弱性恢复信心，确保领导人之间长期的承诺，建立上下届领导的连续性，协调许多政府与非政府间的合作性治理。这篇文章运用了案例研究的方法，概括了三位在自己社区取得成功的农家旅游业领导。每位领导人都利用了不同的方式，包括雇工，分享社区基础和可信地领导。而社会资本的网络视图被用来分析每个案例，从而去寻求和发现这三个个体和他们社区成功的源泉。虽然这些方法之前是被用作来做社区层面的研究，但是这个研究也探索了个人能够体现社会资本的能力。这篇文章总结了一些对于联结社会资本在成功的乡村旅游业领导者起重要作用的观察，尽管没有比较他们的领导方法。像这样的观察记录对于农村社区是非常有价值的，因为他们挣扎于培养和支持有效领导力和有效治理的挑战中。

Keywords:

• rural tourism
• leadership
• governance
• economic development
• social capital
• case study method

关键词:

• 乡村旅游业
• 领导力
• 治理
• 经济发展
• 社会资本
• 案例研究法

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2015.1019514).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nancy Gard McGehee

Nancy McGehee received her MS and PhD in sociology from Virginia Tech in 1995 and 1999, respectively. She is professor in, and head of, the hospitality and tourism management department at Virginia Tech, USA. Her academic career has focused on the rural tourism segment of the industry. She has worked with numerous rural tourism organizations throughout the USA and abroad for over 20 years.

Whitney Knollenberg

Whitney Knollenberg received her MS at East Carolina University in North Carolina, USA, in the area of sustainable tourism and is currently completing her PhD at Virginia Tech. Her research interests lie in the area of tourism policy and leadership.

Amy Komorowski

Amy Komorowski received her MS from Roosevelt University in Chicago IL, USA and is currently completing her PhD at Virginia Tech. She has extensive field experience in volunteer tourism, primarily in Central and South America. Her research interests lie in tourism organizational policy and planning.