📄 Abstract
Although the African evidence of the effectiveness of rural hospitality entrepreneurship as a means of regeneration of rural areas is widely promoted, there is no systematic mapping of the evidence. The purpose of this review was to summarise the available peer reviewed literature about rural hospitality entrepreneurship and regional revitalisation in Kenya, East Africa and Africa between 2020 and the present. The review is conducted in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 reporting guideline (Page et al., 2021). Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCOhost, Google Scholar and African Journals Online are source databases used for records. Studies are reviewed twice, with explicit eligibility criteria, are appraised for quality, and synthesised thematically. Six themes were created through the synthesis. These include issues of economic regeneration, socio-cultural outcomes, community perception and participation, entrepreneur-level success factors, institutional and ecosystem barriers, and the changing paradigm from sustainability to regeneration. There are consistencies found from the findings in relation to rural hospitality enterprise creating jobs, income and community pride. They also reveal damages, such as social disruption and environmental damage. There is a limited and largely survey-based body of evidence, mostly from Kenya and South Africa. The entrepreneurial processes are still not well studied and there is no study on the application of the regenerative tourism framework in Africa. The review thus indicates that there exists a gap in the field of qualitative, entrepreneur centric research in Kenya which is proposed to be filled using multiple case study designs in the future.
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📚 How to Cite:
Peruce Atingo, Prof. Jacqueline Korir , RURAL HOSPITALITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND REGIONAL REGENERATION: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF EVIDENCE FROM KENYA AND SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA , Volume 13 , Issue 8, August 2026, EPRA International Journal of Economics, Business and Management Studies (EBMS) , Pages: 192 - 200 , DOI: https://doi.org/10.36713/epra31282