Agritourism has achieved a greater importance in the last decade, but despite this relevance, the definition is not aligned everywhere, depending on the contingency variables of the context in which agritourism is located. This paper aims at analyzing the business model’s key success factors of Italian agritourism by studying their structural, social and economic features, integrated with a sustainability approach. The empirical analysis is based on a sample of agritourism, located in an Italian region. The empirical results show relevant and useful elements to support the sustainable development of agritourism business models in Italy, linking theory, policy and practices. Indeed, these results, together with others related to the economic dimension of the farms, their specialization, and the characteristics of the farmers make it possible to argue that there are common elements, which offer potential for agritourism. In addition, it was possible to identify two different models of agritourism. Agritourism can open new horizons in rural sustainable development, with possible beneficial effects on the environment, society, agricultural heritage and economic growth. In particular, regional policy developers should take into consideration these elements in order to direct correctly efforts. The research shows also some interesting theoretical implications as it contributes to enrich the literature on this particular kind of business model. At the same time, it helps family owners to increase the overall understanding of their agritourism, in order to finalize adequate planning and communication.

European Mediterranean mountain regions have been characterized by a sort of competition between the tourism sector and the agro-silvo-pastoral system, which in recent years has contributed to generate a continuous decline of the second one. Nevertheless, Pasture-based Livestock Farming Systems (PLSFS) are relevant for their role in the management and conservation of large High Nature Value (HNV) farmlands in Europe. The goal of our research is therefore to analyze what are the main features of farming organizations in the Italian alpine mountains and how they may be combined into inovative and sustainable business models (BM), characterized by the coexistence of agro-silvo-pastoral and touristic activities. By drawing upon the BM definition suggested by the Bocken’s et al. (2014), an exploratory case study has been analyzed; in particular, we propose the case study of the Lanzo Valleys, an alpine mountain region in the northwest of Italy, and the Toma di Lanzo Producers Association. The way a concrete and sustainable innovation in the more traditional BM could be supported only by the proactive intervention of a supra-farm dimension, while maintaining the peculiarities of the individual farms, is clearly shown in the article. A system of firms and institutions linked together in a collaborative relationship may represent a strong network, able to achieve the common goal of producing a sustainable development for the territory. Indeed, environment and cultural heritage may be preserved, as well as the economic perspective of farms reinforced, while the PLSFS could become more attractive for the tourism phenomenon. Interesting implications for farmers, policy makers and local institutions are identified.

In the evolving landscape of entrepreneurship, digital technologies have ushered in new possibilities, attracting considerable academic attention. Despite the burgeoning research in Digital Entrepreneurship, the field remains fragmented, warranting a synthesized overview and structured research agenda. Consistently with the above, the paper presents a quantitative mapping of Digital Entrepreneurship through a bibliometric analysis of its publications. The research aims to address the need for a comprehensive, bibliometric overview of the topic, which has been echoed in recently published papers. In order to achieve this goal, we collected data from the Web of Science database, a common and scientifically sound choice in entrepreneurship research. The data were analyzed by applying Latent Dirichlet Allocation and topic modeling, thus providing a unique approach to bibliometric mapping. Topic modeling allows for the processing and analysis of significant amounts of scientific data, thus making it an ideal tool for bibliometric research. We find the field of Digital Entrepreneurship to be rather lively and in rapid development, with several publication outlets, affiliations, and countries contributing to it. We found four main topics to be extracted: the implications of Digital Entrepreneurship for innovation, Digital Entrepreneurship as an enabler for empowerment, the transformation of business models through digitalization, and the surge of digital platforms as entrepreneurial ecosystems. Additionally, we have provided a comprehensive overview of the theoretical lenses used amid the sample and a structured research agenda built upon extant gaps. From a theoretical perspective, the article serves as a starting point for future research on the topic and a comprehensive analysis of its present and past. From a practical perspective, the study is of interest to digital entrepreneurs willing to learn more about the opportunities and challenges provided by the digital landscape.

Business plan competitions (BPCs) are opportunities for nascent entrepreneurs to showcase their business ideas and obtain resources to fund their entrepreneurial future. They are also an important tool for policymakers and higher education institutions to stimulate entrepreneurial activity and support new entrepreneurial ventures from conceptual and financial standpoints. Academic research has kept pace with the rising interest in BPCs over the past decades, especially regarding their implications for entrepreneurial education. Literature on BPCs has grown slowly but steadily over the years, offering important insights that entrepreneurship scholars must collectively evaluate to inform theory and practice. Yet, no attempt has been made to perform a systematic review and synthesis of BPC literature. Therefore, to highlight emerging trends and draw pathways to future research, the authors adopted a systematic approach to synthesize the literature on BPCs. The authors performed a systematic literature review on 58 articles on BPCs. Several themes emerge from the BPC literature, including BPCs investigated as prime opportunities to develop entrepreneurial education, the effects of BPC participation on future entrepreneurial activity, and several attempts to frame an ideal BPC blueprint for future contests. However, several research gaps emerge, especially regarding the lack of theoretical underpinnings in the literature stream and the predominance of exploratory research. This paper provides guidance for practice by presenting a roadmap for future research on BPCs drawing from the sample reviewed. From a theoretical perspective, the study offers several prompts for further research on the topic through a concept map and a structured research agenda.