Members from Business Academy SouthWest, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and Koszalin University of Technology have recently published an article titled “Cooking up prosperity: Pop-Up restaurants, innovation, and lifestyle entrepreneurship” in Gastronomy & Tourism.
The study focused on the concept of Pop-Up Norge as a case study, where they investigated they way they do (and wish to do) business being a testament to their embodiment of innovation and life-style entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurs in Pop-Up Norge revelled in a sense of freedom, creativity, and the pursuit of uniqueness, and this continuously drove them to enhance and offer novel experiences.
A great Nordic success story that others can learn from!
This is also a success story for TourNord, as this was a collaboration started at our TourNord network meeting in Bergen, where an idea of supporting each other’s PhD students came to life.
You can read the abstract below, and the article is freely available here.
Abstract: Entrepreneurship is central to diversifying and enhancing the competitiveness of tourism offer-ings. The current literature underscores a critical oversight in nurturing entrepreneurship for tourism innovation and urges further exploration of entrepreneurial motivations in tourism start-ups. This is particularly relevant because the tourism sector heavily relies on new ventures to drive innovation, as established firms often struggle to meet the growing demand for distinc-tive and unique travel experiences. This study examines the entrepreneurial journey and inno-vation process within the tourism scene. Through comprehensive desk research and an in-depth entrepreneur interview, we aim to deepen our insights into the motivations driving entrepre-neurs and the innovation processes behind their tourism products and services. Specifically, our research focuses on pop-up restaurants, illuminating their embodiment of innovation and life-style entrepreneurship. The findings reveal that a sense of freedom, creativity, and the pursuit of uniqueness stand out as key motivational factors of establishing pop-up restaurants. These motivations extend into a continuous business innovation cycle, as the drive to enhance and offer novel experiences remains paramount. This study elucidates the uncharted territory of tourism entrepreneurship and offers valuable insights into the driving forces and innovative dynamics within this evolving market.