Rural entrepreneurial space and identity; A study of local tour operators and ‘the Nenets’ indigenous reindeer herders

The tourism industry is a capitalist activity concerned with the production, accumulation and distribution of wealth. Power is an important arena for research in this respect as diverse outcomes for the local economy in general, and its players specifically, provide important aspects to study when considering the lives of rural entrepreneurs. However, it may be argued that while Marxist theorists using critical approaches on power have tended to focus on issues around the equality of power relations between actors or stakeholders, the inherently spatial nature of power has received less emphasis. This article focuses on an exploration of the spatiality of power which surrounds entrepreneurship and tourism industry development.