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

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.