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Background: Due to increasing globalisation and the possibility to travel and work wherever one wants, great opportunities for personal development open up and backpacking is becoming more than the occasional trip to self-fulfilment. Future entrepreneurs need selected key qualifications to standout and lead operations successfully. Individual travel and leadership seem to have many prerequisites in common; one can enhance and support the other. Methods: To investigate the benefit/impact of backpacking in special regard to its entrepreneurial key qualifications, qualitative interviews about travel behaviour and perceived leadership activities were held. Furthermore, a literature research about present key leadership qualifications as well as backpacking was conducted. Results: Findings show that core soft competencies of successful entrepreneurs such as teambuilding, communication, risk assessment and decision making skills are reflected in the typical behaviour of backpackers on their journeys. Conclusion: Grabbing one´s backpack and discovering the unknown individually is a great way to improve one´s own personal and professional development whilst being on "vacation"

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Reiter, Georg
Georg Reiter, graduate in Health- and Tourism Management in Bad Gleichenberg, Co-founder of WaGru Hiking Association and receiver of the Young Talent Award for High Potentials in Tourism.

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