Abstract - Entrepreneurship in niche tourism: risk factors and success factors. The case of the Dutch Province of Limburg
Limburg, a province in the southern part of the Netherlands, is developing a tourism policy which focuses on new niche markets based on the growing demand for spirituality and regional gastronomy. However, the problem is that many entrepreneurs operating in these emerging niche markets miss the key competencies needed in order to run their company in a professional way. They are driven by their personal passion rather than by profit or the demand of the market. An important challenge for the future will be to support these niche market entrepreneurs in acquiring the necessary entrepreneurial competencies without belieing their specific personal characteristics.