Exploring the mediating role of attitude in the investigation of rural tourism entrepreneurial intention among tourism students

ABSTRACTRural tourism entrepreneurship plays a significant role in the economic development of many regions. To contribute to our understanding of this field, this study explores the relationship between tourism education and entrepreneurial intention among Indian university students majoring in tourism or taking tourism courses, with a specific focus on the mediating effect of attitude towards rural tourism entrepreneurship. Using a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire, data were collected from 200 participants to examine the hypothesized relationships. The results reveal a positive direct effect of tourism education on rural tourism entrepreneurial intention and further demonstrate that this relationship is mediated by a favourable attitude towards rural tourism entrepreneurship. These findings highlight the importance of attitude as a mechanism through which tourism education influences entrepreneurial intention in the rural tourism sector.KEYWORDS: Tourism educationtheory of planned behaviourentrepreneurial intentionrural tourism entrepreneurshiprural development Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).