Towards Future Rural Sustainability Transitions

Rural decline and ongoing rural transformations have intensified global debate on rural revitalization, with tourism increasingly recognized as a potential driver of rural sustainability transitions. Against this backdrop, this thesis examines young in-migrant entrepreneurs (YMEs) in South Korea and explores why and how they establish tourism ventures in rural areas and contribute to sustainable rural development. Through three interrelated qualitative studies spanning individual, entrepreneurial, and regional levels, the research examines YMEs’ migration motivations, sustainable entrepreneurial practices, and roles in regional sustainability transitions. The thesis demonstrates how YMEs’ aspirations and entrepreneurial agency interact with rural contexts to generate tourism-led pathways towards rural sustainability transitions, contributing to rural tourism, sustainable entrepreneurship, in-migration, and sustainability transition research and offering context-sensitive policy implications for rural revitalization.