A theoretical framework for sustaining culture: Culturally sustainable entrepreneurship

While the three phenomena-culture, sustainability, and entrepreneurship-have been discussed separately, or paired in the tourism literature, they have rarely been studied together. This paper proposes culturally sustainable entrepreneurship as a new, theoretical framework for insight and advocacy in indigenous and non-indigenous tourism contexts. Culturally sustainable entrepreneurship encourages adapting entrepreneurial models that sustain and enhance the values and traditions of a community for its self-defined benefits, rather than imposing economic entrepreneurial models that may change conditions within a community. Entrepreneurial strategies in the mainstream proceed upon values that may diverge sharply from those of non-mainstream cultures. Culturally sustainable entrepreneurship promotes sustainable empowerment through owned-decision making for marginalized populations. Living cultures are presented as particular application for culturally sustainable entrepreneurship.