Women’s Economic Empowerment through Tourism: A Case Study of Selected Western Balkans Countries
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Dec 1, 2022
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Abstract
Tourism is considered to be an essential means of empowering women in the national, regional and global economy, presenting both opportunities for gender equality and women’s empowerment. However, the general lack of women’s empowerment worldwide calls for research. This paper investigates opportunities for women to improve their socioeconomic status through tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia. Its methodology is based on qualitative research. A survey was conducted on a sample of 388 female respondents engaged within the tourism sector from these countries. The results are presented through descriptive methods, comparing the attitudes of women 18 to 65 years of age, their respective levels of education and barriers within entrepreneurship activities in tourism. The data obtained were analyzed in accordance with the objectives of this study and the research questions posed. It is found that training and further education as well as providing financial assistance would significantly assist women in opening their own tourism business within the region. The study also finds that women generally report financial support as a crucial factor in helping support business in the tourism sector.
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[3] Arroyo, G., Barbieri, C., Sotomayor, C., & Knollenberg, W., 2019. Cultivating Women’s Empowerment through Agritourism: Evidence from Andean Communities. Sustainability, 11(11): 3058.
[4] Baum, T., 2013. International perspectives on women and work in hotels, catering and tourism. Working Paper 1 / 2013. Geneva: International Labour Organization.
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[6] Benner, M., 2020. Tourism in the context of smart specialization: the example of Montenegro. Current Issues in Tourism, 23(21), pp.2624-2630.
[7] Boateng, D., 2021. Pathways for the economic empowerment of female entrepreneurs in emerging economies: Implications for social work. International Social Work. 2021; 64(2):216-232.
[8] Čeperković, J., Šiljak, M., & Đuradjević, M. (2017). Women Entrepreneurship in Function of Improving Tourist Offer. Journal of Women’s Entrepreneurship and Education, (3-4), 73-83.
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[14] Figueroa-Domecq, C., Pritchard, A., Segovia-Pérez, M., Morgan, N., & Villacé-Molinero, T., 2015. Tourism gender research: a critical accounting. Annals of Tourism Research, vol.52, pp.87-103.
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[16] Goffi, G., Cucculelli M., & Masiero L., 2019. Fostering tourism destination competitiveness in developing countries: The role of sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production, vol.209, pp.101-115.
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[21] International Finance Corporation, 2017. Women and Tourism: Designing for Inclusion. Tourism for Development Knowledge Series. Washington, DC. International Finance Corporation. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/28535 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO
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[24] Knight, W. D. & Cottrell, P. S., 2016. Evaluating Tourism - Linked Empowerment in Cuzco, Peru. Annals of Tourism Research, No. 56. pp. 32-47. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285050471_Evaluating_tourism-linked_empowerment_in_Cuzco_Peru. Retrieval date January 25th, 2021.
[25] Lau, V.P., Dimitrova, M.N., Shaffer, M.A., Davidkov, T., & Yordanova, D.I, 2012. Entrepreneurial readiness and firm growth: An integrated Etic and Emic approach. Journal of International Management, 18(2), pp. 147-159.
[26] Lenao, M., & Basupi, B., 2016. Ecotourism development and female empowerment in Botswana: A review. Tourism Management Perspectives, Vol.18, pp. 51-58.
[27] Mendoza-Ramos, A., & Prideaux, B., 2018. Assessing ecotourism in an Indigenous community: Using, testing and proving the wheel of empowerment framework as a measurement tool. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 26(2), pp. 277–291.
[28] Mosedale, S., 2005. Assessing women's empowerment: towards a conceptual framework. Journal of international development, vol. 17, pp. 243-257.
[29] Nassani, A.A., Aldakhil, A. M., Moinuddin Qazi Abro, M., Islam, T., & Zaman, K., 2019. The impact of tourism and finance on women empowerment. Journal of Policy Modeling, 41(2), pp.234-254.
[30] Obadić, A., 2016. Gender discrimination and pay gap on tourism labor market. International Journal of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, 10 (3), pp.812-817.
[31] OECD, 2019. Forward to Gender Equality: Mainstreaming, Implementation and Leadership. Available on https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/governance/fast-forward-to-gender-equality_g2g9faa5-en
[32] Petkovic, G., & Pindzo, R. 2012. Tourism and New Economic Challenges. Ekonomika preduzeća, vol. 60, br. 1-2, pp. 117-126. Available on https://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/0353-443X/2012/0353-443X1202117P.pdf
[33] Praveen, R., & Asokan, R., 2013. Empowerment of Women Through Tourism Industry in Sikkim State, India. International Journal of Current Research, 5(12), pp. 4301-4305. Available on https://www.journalcra.com/sites/default/files/issue-pdf/Download%204469.pdf
[34] Radovic, G., & Radovic-Markovic, M., 2017. Significance of Rural Tourism for Female Entrepreneurship Development in the Republic of Serbia. Journal of Women’s Entrepreneurship and Education, vol. 3-4,
[35] Reichelt M., Makovi, K., & Sargsyan A., 2021. The impact of COVID-19 on gender inequality in the labor market and gender-role attitudes. European Societies, 23(1), pp. S228-S245.
[36] Rinaldi, A., & Salerno, I. 2020. The tourism gender gap and its potential impact on the development of the emerging countries. Quality & Quantity, vol.54, pp. 1465–1477.
[37] Scheyvens, R., 1999. Ecotourism and the empowerment of local communities. Tourism Management, Vol 20(2), pg. 245-249.
[38] Slocum, S., L., Dimitrov, D.L., & Webb, K., 2019. The impact of neoliberalism on higher education tourism programs: Meeting the 2030 sustainable development goals with the next generation, Tourism Management Perspectives, volume 30, pp.33-42, ref.48.
[39] Strzelecka, M., Boley, B.B. & Strzelecka, C., 2016. Empowerment and Resident Support for Tourism in Rural Central and Eastern Europe. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. Vol. 25. No. 4, pp. 554-572.
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[41] UN Agenda, 2030. Available on: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/21252030%20Agenda%20for%20Sustainable%20Development%20web.pdf
[42] UN Women, 2019. Global Report on Women in Tourism, Second Edition
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[46] UNWTO, Statistics database, Available on https://www.e-unwto.org/loi/unwtotfb
[47] Vasilić, N., Popović-Pantić, S., & Semenčenko, D. (2020). Women Entrepreneurship in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Women’s Entrepreneurship and Education, (3-4), 23-40.
[48] Vujko, A., Tretiakova, N. T., Petrović, D. M., Radovanović, M. Gajić, T. & Vuković, D., 2019. Women’s Empowerment Through Self-employment in Tourism. Annals of tourism research. Retrieved from https://www.journals.elsevier.com/annals-of-tourism-research.
[49] WBG, 2019. Women, Business and the Law, Available on https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/31327/WBL2019.pdf
[50] WTTC, 2019. Travel and Tourism, Economic Impact 2019, World. Available on: https://www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/economic-impact-research/regions-2019/world2019.pdf