The positive impacts of rural tourism enterprise have led to an increasing recognition\ud
among governments of the value of its contribution to the health of regional and\ud
national economies. Enterprise in the tourism industry requires a certain climate in\ud
order to prosper, however there are a number of dynamic constraints which impact\ud
upon operators within the sector. This research uses a series of unstructured\ud
interviews and detailed questionnaires to achieve a practical understanding of the real\ud
barriers experienced by entrepreneurs in the tourism sector. The dynamics of the\ud
internal and external factors that shape tourism enterprise development are explored.\ud
The western region of Ireland provides the geographical scope of this study,\ud
exhibiting a largely rural context which offers a unique opportunity to investigate\ud
firms in the rural tourism sector. The research clearly demonstrates the existence of\ud
two categories of constraints: internal (the skills, experience, training and motivations\ud
of the entrepreneur and the size and operational aspects of marketing and human\ud
resources of the enterprise) and external (access/infrastructure, cost of operation,\ud
support, complementary tourism product, demand and seasonality and location).\ud
Constraints on the development of rural tourism enterprise are complex and\ud
interdependent however a better understanding of these issues is essential to the\ud
successful future development of the industry. This research contributes to this\ud
understanding through the development of a new theoretical framework