A Delphi Approach to Explore the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem of Gabonese and South African National Park Tourism

Entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) is an emerging concept in the literature, owing to its ability to create a favourable environment for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs have a positive impact on a country's economy. They operate in numerous industries, among them, national parks tourism, which offers business opportunities for related ventures. This qualitative study employed two rounds of the Delphi method with a Google question form. This gathered opinions from 15 participants who have experiences in a Gabonese or South African national park and expertise in SME entrepreneurship, hospitality and heritage, tourism, business and project management. The aim was to build an EE conceptual model for national parks tourism. Findings revealed a specific type of EE for national parks and provided important conceptual and theoretical implications for the existing body of knowledge on EEs. Practical guidelines for policy developers and SMEs entrepreneurs, limitations and future research perspectives are provided.