Small Businesses in Rural Tourism and Agrotourism: Study from Slovakia

Microbusinesses and small enterprises are the dominant representatives of business in the rural environment, and also active players contributing to regional development. Rural areas of Slovakia are still considered to be underused. Exploiting the potential of rural regions is the key to the recovery of rural businesses. Development of rural areas depends on the economic activity taking place in different regions. One of the possibilities for regional development is to promote specific fields of tourism, e.g., rural tourism and agrotourism. This article focuses on the evaluation of entrepreneurial activities in rural tourism based on the empirical research conducted in different regions of Slovakia. The survey sample included 142 business entities. The research was conducted between 2012 and 2016. We have applied quantitative analysis based on questionnaire survey and the Friedman test. Our research shows that benefits generated by rural tourism and agrotourism provide a positive impact on the success of businesses and help in diversification of business risks.