Changing role of lifestyle in tourism entrepreneurship: Case study of Naked Retreats Enterprise

Abstract Despite increased academic attention to tourism lifestyle entrepreneurship (TLE), different discourses and continuous controversy have impeded an understanding of the phenomenon. This paper seeks to provide a new and in-depth understanding through a case study. We select the case of Naked Retreats Enterprise (NRE), a well-known tourism lifestyle corporation in China that has distinctive and deviant TLE. Based on the proposed research framework and multiple-source longitudinal data, we described and interpreted the change in the lifestyle role during the tourism entrepreneurial process. The findings suggest that the role of lifestyle in NRE changed from entrepreneurial motivation to a customer product and then to enterprise capital. The change dynamic is complex and related to contextual factors. This research verifies the effectiveness of a case study and features a dynamic lens and contextual sensibility as applied to TLE research. Moreover, and more broadly, the possibility of bridging the isolated lifestyle discourse in tourism is reflected.