Impacts of tourism on the livelihoods of women in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Tariro Sibanda, Joseph M. Cheer

Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference PaperChapter

Abstract

Many developing regions around the world have advanced and modernised from the opportunities that tourism brings; however, the benefits of tourism are not always shared proportionately with local communities. Zimbabwe was traditionally a patriarchal society where women were largely marginalised and had limited access to diverse livelihood opportunities as compared with their male counterparts. This exploratory study aimed to investigate the impacts of tourism on the livelihoods of women in Victoria Falls, focusing particularly on the nature of the participation of women. The principal research question asks: to what extent has tourism impacted the livelihoods of women? Data were collected through surveys of local residents and semi-structured interviews of key informants. Sara Longwe’s (1995) empowerment framework was used to analyse disaggregated data to determine the livelihood impacts of tourism on women and the subsequent empowerment effects. The largely descriptive findings indicate that tourism has had a positive impact on the income of women; however, women continue to have limited access to formal employment opportunities within the tourism industry. Women were found to have made progress in terms of enhancing their livelihoods; however, they continue to have little impact on decision-making at a community level.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationTourism, Change and the Global South
EditorsJarkko Saarinen, Jayne M. Rogerson
Place of PublicationU.K.
PublisherRoutledge
Pages169-186
Number of pages18
ISBN (Electronic)9781003091325
ISBN (Print)9780367549534
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Impacts of tourism on the livelihoods of women in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this