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Abstract
Poverty and unemployment are the greatest challenges faced by countries across the globe. Even though the government initiates several policies and programmes, the starvation and struggles among millions of people are continuing. As India is the second most populated country in the world, the job requirements of people are also too high. But the organised segment of our economy is not competent enough to ensure sufficient employment for this rapidly growing job demand. In this challenging situation, the widely flourished tourism destinations in India open up a massive business platform by creating employment opportunities for the informal sector. Within the informal sector, the street vending business is found to be the most popular form of micro-level entrepreneurship. Even though street vendors require huge attention and revival strategies, many of the vendors are still struggling to carry out their business. But very few studies have been found in the entrepreneurship literature which handles the problems of these micro-level start-ups in a tourism destination set up. This research gap is the principal motive behind this present empirical research study where we comprehensively identify and analyse the problems of vendors from social, political, financial, legal, and business dimensions. The primary data has been collected from 68 street vendors who are doing business in Munnar tourism destination in Kerala by applying judgmental sampling method. By using a specially designed interview schedule, in-depth personal interviews were conducted. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were used to analyse the data. The study evidence that financial problems and legal issues are dominating among street entrepreneurs, which require immediate revival strategies and attention from authorities.