Women’s entrepreneurship and rural tourism in Greece : Private enterprises and cooperatives

Abstract

Women's entrepreneurship in the Greek countryside has been expressed in two forms of agro-tourism business: private and cooperative. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences between these two forms with regard to the characteristics of the businesses and women entrepreneurs alike. The research was based on personal interviews with 199 women and the results of the survey confirm the existence of significant differences between the two forms of enterprises. The woman who selects the cooperatives is not very young, has relatively little education, is uncertain and hesitant, while the woman who chooses the private form of enterprise is younger, better educated and has greater self-confidence.