Women and Tourism: Occupational Challenges and Management - A Case Study of Business Women in Ecolodges in Kerman Province

Document Type : Research Article (Applied - Development)

Authors

1 Member of the faculty of Tourism Department, Bam Higher Education Complex, Kerman, Iran.

2 Associate Professor, Member of the scientific board of Faculty of Tourism, Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Tehran, Iran.

10.22103/jusg.2024.2128

Abstract

Introduction: Despite women's significant presence in the business sector of tourism (54% worldwide), the challenges they face, particularly in developing societies, are substantial. Tourism serves as a platform for women's economic, cultural, and social transition, but this transition comes with its costs. This study focuses on exploring the occupational challenges faced by working women in ecotourism lodges in Kerman province and examines their coping mechanisms.
Data and Method: The research adopts a qualitative ethnographic approach, involving 19 female lodge managers as participants. Targeted sampling and snowball sampling techniques were used, and semi-structured interviews were conducted. The interview data were manually analyzed using thematic content analysis. The research data's credibility and dependability were ensured through various control strategies.
Results: The findings are categorized into challenges and women's strategies for managing and coping with them. The challenges include socially marginalized backgrounds, unfavorable cultural attitudes towards women's work, socially challenging communications, economic crises, recurrent encounters with economic issues, the vulnerable position of Iranian family and women's work, restrictive laws on women's employment, infrastructural issues, and institutional and internal challenges related to women's work.
Conclusion: The management and problem-solving approaches of women facing these challenges involve cultural challenge management, handling cultural conflicts within the family, creating a successful occupational approach, fostering customer loyalty, and adopting a self-care approach.

Keywords

References

منابع
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History

  • Receive Date: 19 February 2024
  • Revise Date: 18 April 2024
  • Accept Date: 29 May 2024

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