Empowerment of women in the tourism industry: Experiences from Samaipata, Bolivia

Resumen

The following research paper provides an insight into the phenomenon of female (dis) empowerment in the tourism industry in Bolivia, by conducting a case study in the town of Samaipata and combining it with data at a national level. The paper will explore, through a mixed-methods approach, how local gender norms, as well as social and economic factors, affect the female experience in the tourism sector. To do so, an expansion upon the empowerment framework (Scheyvens, 1999) was realized. The quantitative approach utilizes secondary survey data gathered by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), as well as data from the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), to run cross-sectional regressions, to understand what impact the tourism sector has on the relationship between occupational segregation and economic empowerment. The qualitative analysis is based on primary data collected through interviews conducted in Samaipata. The quantitative findings suggest that a large tourism sector is associated with an overall decrease in the tourism gender pay gap, indicating that the tourism industry may increase female economic empowerment. The qualitative findings corroborate this discovery, highlighting that working in the tourism industry empowers women, for instance, increasing their self-esteem and self-efficacy. Based on the findings, gender norms such as machismo also play an important role in shaping female experiences.