To Investigate Whether Tourism Is a Vehicle for Women’s Empowerment” Case Study: Colombia”

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Introduction

The Gender Inequality Index scored Colombia 90 out of 162 countries, which is a ratio of female to male development and their role in society (UNDP, 2017). Among the factors assessed for the inequality index, economic development or financial independence of women is also considered (UNDP, 2019). The low score of Colombia in the report can be attributed to the discrepancy present in Colombian society for women to become economically independent. Therefore, it is important to provide an enabling environment for women to be empowered, through economic as well as social means. Madan, Gulyani, and Benson (2014) believe that entrepreneurship is an effective tool for women, as it increases their status in society, economically, socially, and even within their family circle. Among entrepreneurship opportunities for women, the tourism industry is a lucrative option, due to its growing market and increasing revenue generation. In this study, women's empowerment in Colombia will be studied with a specific focus on the tourism industry, to provide effective recommendations for the improvement of women’s standing in society.

Background of the Study

The tourism industry through opportunities for entrepreneurship is considered as an option for people to become economically stable, for both men and women (Movono and Dahles, 2017). The progress in the economy of the local community results in better financial prospects for its entire population. In terms of women's involvement, de Groot et al. (2017) have highlighted that business ownership and active participation in the decision-making of economic activities can result in empowered Colombian women. As women attain financial means to not only support themselves but also their family, their status grows within society. Although, Mahe (2015) adds that Colombia has been a conflict zone for years, which has severely impacted the development of its people and economy. This in turn has affected the tourism industry of the country as well, as tourists are not attracted to visit a country engulfed in war. However, another study by McClanahan, Parra, and Brisman (2019) adds that since the end of the conflict through a peace treaty in 2016, economic and political stability has been brought to the country. The study concludes that the country has a lot of potentials, in terms of ecotourism if it ensures stable growth, both financially and in terms of human development. Women in Colombia can use this potential for their personal economic growth, which will be uplifting for the country, and also its female population. 

Research Problem 

Literature present on women empowerment in Colombia mostly focuses on incorporating innovative measures, to achieve a greater role for women and empower them (Pineda, Piniero and Ramírez, 2019; Cendales-Jiménez, 2017). In these studies, innovation in agricultural practices and the increased role of matriarchs is focused on, to provide tools of empowerment for the female population. However, the variable of entrepreneurial activities for women is usually not discussed. In this study, women's empowerment will be focused on through the perspective of entrepreneurship and probable opportunities for women in terms of tourism. Moreover, research on the context of Colombian tourism industry usually focuses on environmental degradation and ecotourism (McClanahan, Parra and Brisman, 2019). The role of Colombia’s armed conflict in degrading its tourism industry is also well researched, along with suggestions for future improvement (Bassols, 2016). Although, implications of conflict on women and suggestions of women empowerment through the tourism industry is not discussed. For this particular study, the variables of women empowerment, entrepreneurship and tourism industry of Colombia will all by analysed in a singular prospect. This analysis will be helpful in formulating effective recommendations for women to play a greater part in Colombia’s development through tourism and improve their own prospect in the society. 

Research Aims and Objectives

The aim of this research is to explore women empowerment opportunities, through tourism entrepreneurial activities, by focusing on the specific case of Colombia. The objectives of conducting are given as follows:

To study the concept of women empowerment from a theoretical perspective

To identify primary factors that influence women empowerment through tourism entrepreneurship opportunities

To be able to critically evaluate and analyse the influence of tourism entrepreneurship opportunities on women empowerment for women in Colombia.

To provide relevant recommendation in order to improve women empowerment and tourism entrepreneurship opportunities for women in Colombia. 

Research Questions

What is the theoretical perspective for the concept of women empowerment?

What are the primary factors that influence women empowerment through tourism entrepreneurship opportunities?

What is the role of tourism entrepreneurship opportunities for empowerment of women in Colombia?

What are the recommendations for tourism entrepreneurship opportunities for women empowerment in Colombia? 

Rationale of the Study

The prevalence of war in the country and cultural norms that enforce patriarchy, has made life for women in Colombia hard. In the research conducted by Hynes et al. (2016), it is discussed that social norms and structural barriers in the legislative system enforce women to stay in abusive homes with violent partners. The situation is worsened due to the wide spread conflict in the region, which has exposed the most vulnerable parts of society to violence. Wirtz et al. (2018) has highlighted the use of Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Colombian conflict, under which women are kidnapped, raped and even murdered without any repercussions for the criminals. The prevalence of GBV along with a culture that enslaves women under patriarchy, it becomes impossible for women to raise their voices against injustices and solidify their role in a progressive society. Moreover, as noted by de Groot et al. (2017), the tourism industry of Colombia is a growing economic sector, which provides various opportunities for entrepreneurs. Therefore, this research is being conducted for the women of Colombia, in order to explore and identify opportunities for their economic and social elevation.  

Outline of the Study

This research is conducted with an aim to draw conclusive results and provide effective recommendations for women empowerment tin Colombia’s tourism entrepreneurship industry. The study is composed of five chapters, with each containing relevant information about the topic. In chapter 1 of introduction, an overview of the topic is given, along with the aim and objectives of conducting the research. In this chapter, rationale for conducting the study is given as well as the problem statement is discussed. Chapter two illustrates relevant literature present on the topic of tourism, entrepreneurship and women empowerment. In this chapter, theoretical framework is discussed in-depth and current trends of tourism industry in Colombia are discussed as well. Chapter three is written on methodology, which discusses research philosophy that sets the path for entire research process. The chapter contains information on data collection, research strategy and data analysis. In chapter four, findings are emphasised and discussed in detail, in order to draw out conclusive results from the data that has been gathered. In the final chapter of conclusion, research questions are answered and finally recommendations are given to improve the social standing of Colombian women through entrepreneurship.

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction 

According to a study carried out by Cornwall (2016), the importance relating to women empowerment was elaborated in an extensive manner. Women empowerment is perceived to be an integral element of society and caters to giving women their basic rights. Apart from this, empowering women serves as a means to eradicating unemployment and recognising the capabilities that women possess. One such industry that can provide the basis for women empowerment is the tourism industry. The tourism industry can provide several employment opportunities to women. This research study focuses and particularly questions women empowerment through tourism entrepreneurship opportunities among Colombian women.

Theoretical framework

According to a study carried out by How (2017), the phenomenon pertaining to the critical theory was elaborated in an extensive manner. Critical theory caters to issues and concerns relating to society. These include issues of power, justice and also addresses the fact the social system is formulated on the basis of gender, race, economy, class, education, religion and certain ideologies. The critical theory was evaluated to focus on situations that are occurring in the real world and is observed to take into consideration, the behavioural patterns, thoughts and attitudes of the individuals. However, it was argued that the Critical theory is subjective and is substantially dependant on the social values only. Critical theory was also found to be linked to women empowerment as the concept of both women empowerment and critical theory relates to factors of the society (How, 2017). 

According to a study carried out by Ferguson (2017), the phenomenon pertaining to the feminist theory was elaborated in an extensive manner. The feminist theory integrates a vast array of social concerns and issues that are being faced by women in the society. These issues comprise of less opportunities for women in the public as well as private domains, patriarchal institutions, sexual harassment and exploitation, childcare and religion and lack of support from the family (Suárez, Mosquera and Castillo, 2018). However, it was argued extensively that the Feminist theory has devised a certain confusion relating to the misbalance of the two sexes along with placing greater number of advantages towards women only (Ferguson, 2017). 

Conceptualising women empowerment

The term “women empowerment” is described as the procedure of empowering women as per Cornwall (2016). The author further cites that empowerment can be carried out in diverse ways, with the main aspect being that women should be allowed to take and make decisions. There are numerous countries in which women are still discriminated against because of their gender. Sharma and Varma (2016) cites that in multiple scenarios, women are not given their rights, paid less, and expected to do just the household chores. For some men, the life a woman should revolve around the house itself. 

Rasal (2019) cites that women who are able to work are not allowed in the decision-making process. This kind of approach is what degrades women further. In every organisation, there is a need to ensure that women are given the right to be part of the decision-making process. However, Maguirre et al. (2016) is of the view that the major reason that women empowerment is not successful in many countries or in many business fields is that they are not given the authority to take or make decisions. The author additionally states in such situations, men believe that women do not have the capability to take or make decisions. Moreover, if they are made part of the decision-making process, they usually do not consider the criticality of the situation and take decisions based on what situation they are seeing in front of them. 

Conceptualising Tourism entrepreneurship opportunities

The term tourism entrepreneur is described as an individual who has the ability to take a risk to set up their own business. The risk can be either profitable or it can be a complete failure. As the focus here is on the tourism entrepreneurship, the individual would start up his business in the tourism industry. Wang, Hung and Huang (2019) state that it is important for the tourism entrepreneur to have a clear idea about the type of tourism work he plans on doing. This would help him in setting up his business in the right manner. The idea here is the focus is on the people. However, Fu et al. (2019) is of the view that the tourism industry does not solely focus on the people. There are other stakeholders as well that needs to be considered by the tourism entrepreneur which would help in making the business a success.

There are different tourism entrepreneurship opportunities that can be carried out by people in the industry. Kimbu and Ngoasong (2016) state that one of the tourism entrepreneurship opportunities is lodging. The hospitality market is on the rise, which increases the demand for non-traditional lodging. In the tourism industry, lodging plays a critical role as people would need to need a place to stay in during their travel. In some scenarios, hotels tend to suffice the purpose; while in some cases, leasing homes, condos and apartments can also be acquired. However, Peeters and Ateljevic (2017); Uber and Lyft. Movono and Dahles (2017) is of the view that it is important to know the type of consumers one would be serving. This helps in making certain that the appropriate lodging medium is considered, be it a hotel or an apartment.

The relation between women empowerment and tourism entrepreneurship opportunities

Maguirre et al. (2016); Vujko et al. (2019) is of the view that there are diverse tourism entrepreneurship opportunities that exists within the country which can help with the cause of women empowerment. The tourism industry basically thrives on numerous aspects, apart from ride-sharing and lodging (Sharma and Varma, 2016); Panta and Thapa, 2018). Women empowerment can also be carried out through the use of ecotourism as per Kapoor and Bora (2018); Al-Shami et al. (2017) the prospect of ecotourism is that it helps in promoting the community development which would allow women to become aware of the local communities. 

However, Ateljevic and Li (2017) is of the view that ecotourism is just now about having an analysis about having an idea about the physical environment. There are various other factors that must be considered that women have no idea of. These factors are assessing the environmental situation, and taking decisions accordingly to decide which businesses are suitable to open up in the tourism industry (Ateljevic and Page, 2017; Aghajani Afrouzi and Alizadeh, 2017). These are the basic areas which prove that women are not fit to be part of the tourism industry or even given the support for any kind of women empowerment.

Factors of tourism entrepreneurship opportunities effecting women empowerment 

The travel industry as a business is known for the creation of opportunities for the local communities (Hartwell et al., 2018). Khanna (2018) agreed and stated that this service oriented industry create a lot of benefits for the people, society and the country. As per Mahadevan and Suardi (2019) found that travel industry diminishes poverty, yet improved income. The travel industry business has encouraged the entrepreneurs specifically women having a weak financial background to earn and improve their standards of living (Sheldon and Daniele, 2017). Serafimova and Petrevska (2018) added that the tourism entrepreneurship shows that the rate of female entrepreneurship is less than male entrepreneurship in every EU nation. Volkmann, Goia and Hadad (2018) agreed and stated that the greatest contrast is found in Ireland, Sweden and Denmark and the most reduced in Luxembourg, Columbia and Portugal. Studies shows that in general, tourism based entrepreneurship firms owned by women develop quicker than different firms. In the long term, entrepreneurial firms owned by women make positive effects prompting more employment opportunities which helps empower other women (Peeters and Ateljevic, 2017). 

Influence of tourism entrepreneurship opportunities on women empowerment

The tourism entrepreneurship improvement has affected gender orientated jobs and relations particularly among the unprivileged local communities, in social and financial terms (Zapalska and Brozik, 2017). Boateng (2018) agreed to this and stated that in spite of the fact that the influence may give off an impression of having too little impact on the empowerment of the local women however it is really huge to the women themselves because a large number of them become entrepreneurs. Henry, Foss and Ahl (2016) discussed the role of gender and the women empowerment in the tourism entrepreneurship regardless of whether the travel industry has advanced or not. 

Zhou, Chan and Song (2017) discussed that the women should be involved in the early stages of the development of tourism entrepreneurship. Women should also be involved in choosing the ideal types of the travel industry advancement and disseminations of the travel industry expenses and advantages among the various partners since empowering women should not simply be viewed as a potential end result (Scheyvens and Biddulph, 2018). The research of Kumar and Usmani (2016); Platonova and Gény (2017) in regards to women empowerment and the travel industry clarified the nexus between women empowerment and the travel industry, accentuating that it is a procedure of social development. The idea of women empowerment and its connection to the more extensive issues of tourism entrepreneurship advancement and improvement of local community feature the impression of women empowerment in a positive manner (Prada et al 2019; Digan et al. 2019).

An Overview of tourism entrepreneurship opportunities for women in Colombia 

Tourism entrepreneurship draws in visitors with new supportable travel industry exercises at the same time guarantees positive effects for nearby businesses and local communities (Sofronov, 2017; Marasco et al. 2018) stated that the increased number of tourists in Columbia use the local services and products and in this manner support the local businesses. Adongo, Taale and Adam (2018) agreed to this and added that by buying local products they gain better understanding and compassion about the region, its people and culture. From a global relational point of view, the familiarity created by guests visiting Columbia from around the globe can bring a sense of sympathy for that country through their encounters as guests (Niño-Torres, 2019; Alrawadieh, Karayilan and Cetin, 2019). According to (Yousafzai et al., 2018; Drayton and Gabriel, 2016), at the point when numerous global guests have built up these basic positive encounters, this may have a positive effects on Columbian entrepreneurs. 

According to TheGlobalEconomy (2020), in Columbia by 2007, 51.1% of ladies had joined the workforce, in 2015 this value increased to 59.25% and in 2019 it reached 58.61%. The women in Columbia have gradually entered in tourism based businesses such as selling Columbian local ingredients to the tourists (Thimm, 2019; Stephan 2018). The advantages of the travel industry work regardless of whether in the formal or informal segment will in general be introduced in gender neutral ways. However the tourism entrepreneurship opportunities in Columbia are exceptionally limited for the women there. The opportunities provided by the tourism entrepreneurship have been helpful to the Columbian men and highlights a gender based imbalance (Cano and Tabares, 2018). Macías-Prada et al. (2019) agreed and added that this pushes the Columbian female tourism entrepreneurs to work globally at low rates and in non-favoured conditions.

Chapter Summary 

In regards to women empowerment through the travel industry with certain positive features of women entrepreneurship the research would be beneficent in the more extensive setting of social, financial and psychological aspects. Through the travel industry, women have developed self confidence in their capacity to work and handle the family and society issues. Through the travel industry, women were engaged mentally and become ideal for other women in their community. It is significant on the grounds that this can prompt a chain impact in which other women follow these women and also become entrepreneurs. Moreover, through the travel industry, women illustrated pride in tradition and culture alongside the way of revitalisation of life and customs in the community. The tourism industry changes the financial conditions of the women from an unprivileged background by providing opportunities of employment which helps increase their self-respect and pride in themselves.

CHAPTER THREE: METHDOLOGY

Research Philosophy 

The three research philosophies that are most commonly utilised by researchers while executing their research studies comprise of positivism, interpretivism and realism. According to a study carried out by Ryan (2018), the concept pertaining to the positivism research philosophy was elaborated in an extensive manner. It was evaluated that the positivism research paradigm constitutes a vast array of general findings incorporated with scientific research implications. However, in a study carried out by Žukauskas, Vveinhardt and Andriukaitienė (2018), it was argued that apart from the positivism research paradigm, there is also exists the research paradigm pertaining to the interpretivism research philosophy. It was evaluated that studies that integrate interpretivism research philosophy cater to the behavioural patterns and attitudes of the individuals. In this study, the researcher has made use of the interpretivism research paradigm. The primary reasons of selecting this research paradigm relates to its ability to observe how society exhibits certain meanings and negotiations as well as catering to experiences of individuals that are unique. The secondary reason for this is that the researcher intend to integrate the human interest in the research and utilise the uniqueness of the various conclusions derived in the various literatures for building a conclusion for the study. 

Research Design

According to a study carried out Leavy (2017), the concepts relating to the most commonly used research design methods were elaborated in an extensive manner. It was evaluated that the two most common research design methods utilised by researchers in carrying out their studies include the quantitative and qualitative research designs. As per the study of Leavy (2017), qualitative research design was described as a process of accumulating non-numerical information. This data is usually collected via observations, participations and individual interviews. However, in a study carried out by Rahi (2017), it was argued that apart from qualitative research design, the quantitative research design is also utilised by the researchers. The quantitative research design aims to collect measurable data that can be input, analysed and evaluated by mathematical and statistical formulas. The researcher utilised the qualitative research design method as it helped in analysing the outcomes in greater detail and created openness that led to the expansion in the individual’s responses. These open ended details provide greater scope to of interpretation of the collected data in relevance to the research topic as the qualitative design of research provide more realistic descriptions of the issues discussed in this research which cannot be gathered using quantitative approach.

Research Approach

According to a study carried out by Opie (2019), emphasis was placed on the research approaches used by researchers while executing research studies. These include the deductive and inductive research approach. Deductive research approach was evaluated as a process that caters to developing a hypothesis based on existing theory while inductive research approach starts with initialising particular observations and theories are proposed towards the end of the research execution (Opie, 2019). In this study, the researcher utilised the inductive research approach. One major reason of using inductive research approach is that the identified factors that influence women empowerment related to opportunities for Colombian women within the tourism industry can be implemented and generalised to other industries as well. In an inductive research various probabilities can be explored, based on the data that has been collected. In the context of this study on Columbian women, inductive reasoning is justified due to the presence of variables of tourism and entrepreneurship, which helps the researcher identify all probable answers. Consequently, as all probabilities are explored, the conclusions drawn also ensure continuation of researches. 

Data Collection Process

The data collection process is broadly categorized into two types; primary data collection and secondary data collection. White (2018) describes primary collection as gathering new information on a particular topic, by conducting surveys or interviews. While secondary data collection is defined as using existing data on relevant information and moulding it to answer a study’s research questions. For this particular study, secondary data collection has been applied by the researcher. In secondary data collection, the researcher has an opportunity to review several sources of information, like articles, newspaper, government sites, books, journals and other valid sources. The justification for using secondary data collection method is that it allows scanning massive amounts of information, which can be achieved from various sources from public to private forums. Such a collection allows the researcher to analyse vast amounts of data that they themselves would not have been able to amass or would have taken years of intensive labour. Moreover, Johnston (2017) adds that in secondary data collection a realistic time limit can be set for the research process, which makes it time efficient and cost effective for the researcher. Secondary data collection is not only convenient, but also a powerful tool for research purposes. It allows the researcher to be critical in choosing what to add and remove from the sample pool. This increases the conclusions’ and findings' validity and reliability, which makes it relevant for the field and other researches. To summarise, the current research is carried out by collecting secondary data from authentic and relevant sources while having focus on presenting qualitative findings through content analysis. 

Inclusion and Exclusion criteria

The inclusion and exclusion criteria of research are based on previously established functions of the research articles that are created by the researchers for recognizing the pattern that can help them in including the desired research article that fits the inclusion criteria and reject those that are declined by the exclusion criteria. In the current market analysing and economic research, there are sure inclusion and exclusion criteria dependent on the components like gender, age, and experience. Following table explains the exclusion and inclusion criteria of the current research.

Table 2: Inclusion Exclusion criteria.

Data Analysis Method

The method of data analysis depends on the nature of the data collected for the research as well as the method through which it is collected (Tracy, 2019). The secondary information gathered utilising research literature for the recent researches was examined utilising content analysis (Johnston, 2017). Content analysis is a technique utilised for examining, recognising and extracting required data from the existing literature (Vaismoradi et al., 2016). The research of Tracy (2019) indicated that the technique of content analysis emphasises on critical arguments of multiple authors based on the phenomena from which the researcher is able to provide thorough perceptions. The content analysis will be utilised in this research so as to gather the data from the multiple perspective discussed regarding the multiple research paper revolving around the tourism as the source for women's empowerment. This analysis is also utilised due to the nature of the data being qualitative as content analysis is a significantly powerful tool to determine the presence of variable, themes and the concept extracted with the collected qualitative data. Additionally, the content analysis allows a researcher in presenting logical findings through a range of perceptions that gives expanded view on the phenomena being studied. Also, the content analysis technique enables a study in evaluating various views to form a single judgment on the phenomena being studied. 

Ethical consideration

There are two fundamental ethical considerations which are particularly important during a content analysis of research literature (Pietilä et al., 2020). The first important ethical consideration is that of avoiding plagiarism while the second ethical consideration is that of properly crediting the work of the authors (Sternberg, 2018). Firstly, the material needed was collected for the research, this collection was done according to the research questions and the research objectives, a documented list was developed holding the information of the material used along with the name of the author and the proper reference detail. This was also a way to eradicate the chance of any confusion in the process of crediting the work of the authors which are referred in the study. Secondly, it was ensured that the data which was collected from the research material was properly rephrased, this practice guaranteed that there is no issue of plagiarism in the study which ensures the validity and authenticity of the research. 

Limitations of the Study

The limitations of this research include the adoption of secondary data collection process. This can be attributed to the fact that secondary data collection may be cost-effective, but the relevancy and authenticity of the collected data is extremely important for the validity of the research. Therefore, the researcher needs to be careful in gathering content for the field of study as well as during its analysis. If primary data collection process were employed for this study, through interviews or survey questionnaires, the researcher would be more factual and conclusions would be of higher quality. The study of Greener (2018) further clarifies that stress, expenditures, time management issues and emotional strain are a few limitations experienced during the research process. During the research process for this study, these limitations were faced by the researcher that may have affected data collection and analysis. Moreover, the scope of the study is also limited, as only women empowerment in Colombia has been studied in the context of the tourism entrepreneurship opportunities. If the research area were increased to Colombia’s neighbouring countries like Venezuela or Ecuador and other Central American countries were included, which have similar political and economic conditions, then research would have a more conclusive result.

CHAPTER FOUR: ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

Introduction

The previous developed chapter explains the methods that are used in the collection and analysing the collected data in an effective manner. The current chapter explains the findings from the collected data with the use of the technique that was mentioned in the previous chapter. The previous chapter explains the research to be conducting the secondary data research through the use of research articles and discuss their findings with the help of content analysis. The developed content analysis of the literature related to the topic of women empowerment with the help of tourism activities. The developed topic of research discusses the concept with special reference to Columbia and its tourism activities that are performed by the women of the country.

Content analysis

The use of content analysis can be beneficial for the researchers for examining any piece of recorded occurrence in writing that is related to the discussed topic. In the current research, the content analysis will be made in terms of the literature review that can help the current researchers in deducing their research results based on investigating the empowerment of women with tourism activities performed by them in the country of Columbia.

Investigating the importance of woman empowerment for Colombian Woman

According to the research of Cornwall (2016) phenomena of woman empowerment has been one of the prominent elements for the woman of Colombia.  The similar author added that woman empowerment is an action to uplift the role of woman in modern society (Cornwall, 2016). Additionally, the research of Ferguson (2017) indicated that the campaigns on woman empowerment created substantial number of opportunities for the woman residing in Colombia. Moreover, the study of Sharma and Varma (2016) supported the prior argument by stating that woman empowerment provided newer perspective on identifying the role of woman in improving the wellbeing of society rather than conventional role of caretaking their beloved in household.  However, the research of Maguirre, Ruelas and Torre (2016) argued that woman empowerment in Colombia has been rising in recent years as the woman began working at workplace after completing their education rather than becoming housewives. Although, the research of Al-Shami et al. (2017) stated that woman empowerment in Columbia is only benefitting the woman of upper social class. The research of Kapoor and Bora (2018) highlighted that the government of Colombia has been playing a vital role in empowering the woman in Columbia; the government provided start-up income to several woman and families of Colombia to kick start the agriculture  

Furthermore, the study of Ferguson (2017) highlighted that the Peace Accord was conducted that boasted the phenomena of gender equality in Colombia due to the prominence of woman empowerment was recognised by the government. Additionally, the study of Al-Shami et al. (2017) contemplated that woman empowerment allowed woman of Columbia to play active role in development of rural areas of Columbia. While the study of Cornwall (2016) asserted that woman empowerment pushed woman in Colombia to take part in political matters. Although, the research of Ferguson (2017) considered prominent role of woman in eradication of illegal drugs in Columbia due to increase in woman empowerment in the nation. Similarly, the study of Sharma and Varma (2016) identified that United Nation (UN) Verification Mission was introduced which was inclined towards increasing the role of woman in conflict resolutions and negotiation. The similar researcher added that UN Verification Mission comprises of 48% woman representatives and has been successful in convincing the government of Colombia to empower the woman residing in state (Sharma and Varma, 2016).  However, the research of Maguirre, Ruelas and Torre (2016) emphasised on lack of gender equality faced by woman living in poor and rural areas of Columbia. The similar researcher added that government of Colombia has to increase the priority of this issue and collaborate with UN to eradiated the issue from the core (Maguirre, Ruelas and Torre, 2016). Moreover, the research of Kapoor and Bora (2018) regarded that woman empowerment in Colombia has been progressing from last 25 years as the role of woman has been increase in decision making, formation of law and policies against gender inequality and participation in politics. 

Analysing the challenges experienced by woman of Columbia related to woman empowerment

As the tourism has helped many women in making their earning through the tourism services and have acquired international recognition. However, there are certain challenges that are experienced by the Columbian women in terms of conflict related threats and gender inequality. There have been several warnings from the tribes and the community heads functional in the Columbia for practicing the gender equality in the country (Wang, Hung and Huang, 2019). These warnings had developed a level of conflict among the society and the body members. This conflict remains unresolved and develop challenges that cause threat to the implication of the gender equality (Fu et al. 2019). 

First challenge that is experienced by the Columbian women in attaining the gender equality leading towards the empowerment is related to the political establishment of Columbia. This means that the armed forces have control in the region and these armed forces has their impact in certain areas like government security and other political settlements that support the women empowerment (Fu et al. 2019). It is also noted that the Columbian Government has tried to conduct peace talks with such armed forces but these peace talks are of no results. This becomes the problem for the country to develop effective economic growth perspectives that also support female empowerment (Kimbu and Ngoasong 2016).

Other challenge that is experienced for bringing women empowerment in the country like Columbia is in the form of violence that is been experienced by the women of the country. It had been described by Movono and Dahles (2017) that around 70% of the women who are living in Columbia has experienced the violence in different forms. These different forms of violence were in terms of physical, psychological, sexual, or in terms of political activities. It is also explained by the researchers that the Columbian women also do not report majority of the violence cases so the numbers can be increased. This silence from the women is resulted from the constant pressure from the make gender about the cases of violence (Panta and Thapa 2018).

Another challenge that is experienced by the women of Columbia in conducting women empowerment is based on the weakly developed constitutional rules and regulations. It is also explained by Vujko et al. (2019) that the women of Columbia experience a continued level of gender bias and therefore experience a formidable form of violence that becomes a challenge in attaining the women empowerment. In last, it is also observed by Hartwell et al. (2018) that the female politicians of the country did not support the women movements that are conducted in the country for supporting the women empowerment in the country. This is because; those female politicians prioritise the party politics over the support of movement for making women empowerment.

Assessing the factors that influences women empowerment through tourism entrepreneurship opportunities.

It has been observed by Hartwell et al. (2018) that the engagement and participation of women in the tourism industry has been increased in couple of previous years. It is explained by Serafimova and Petrevska (2018) that the Columbian tourism industry is making progress with the help of women entrepreneurs who are delivering their services to the clients in a successful manner. It was also explained by Serafimova and Petrevska (2018) that there are certain factors that had help the women of Columbia in making the progress towards the increased revenue generation. These factors mainly belong to micro and macro level. The micro level factors are in terms of education, and traveling experience of the women who are performing their duties in the tourism sector. The macro factors include the opportunity seeking and resource acquisition for effectively delivering the tourism services (Platonova and Gény 2017).

It is also explained by Zapalska and Brozik, (2017) that the micro factors of education level and the traveling experience of the females can help them in attaining the enough information about the tourism activities that can make them self-sufficient for performing the operations in a successful manner. Further, the increased educational level and in level of experience can easily support the growth of the opportunities that can help the businesses in making effective revenues that will support the empowerment of the females in the region (Zapalska and Brozik 2017). It was also discussed by Zhou, Chan and Song (2017) that the factors that can also affect the women empowerment in the country like Columbia are based on the fiscal policy of the country; labour market characteristics; gender social norms; and other legal and social frameworks of doing business.

After the developed micro-factors of the education and the experience level of the women in the tourism; the factors of fiscal policy and the labour market characteristics can help the women in making effective decisions about the tourism business (Kumar and Usmani 2016). Such effective decisions about the tourism business can help the women to empower in the country like Columbia. Further, it is also mentioned that the gender social norms and other suggested legal frameworks play an important role in the working conditions of the females for conducting effective tourism practices that effectively supports the women empowerment (Stephan 2018).

These legal frameworks include the legal protection of the women who are delivering the tourism practices in the country. Further, the legal framework supporting the women empowerment on the tourism industry are based on the social protection that is performed by the legal system of the country also makes the support to the female empowerment (Henry, Foss and Ahl 2016). It was also mentioned in the research that the developed fiscal policy of the country must be observed by the female entrepreneurs as the knowledge of fiscal policy of the country can increase the knowledge of the females about the tax system and how to perform their reduction on the business activities. All of these mentioned factors has significant impact on the attainment of the female empowerment through tourism entrepreneurship (Zhou, Chan and Song 2017).

Examining the role of tourism entrepreneurship opportunities on empowering the women of Columbia.

Digan et al. (2019) had described the fact that the women empowerment is basically limited by the thoughts of increase in the emphasis on the individual responsibility and having the social reproduction of the information that has been supportive of the limiting impact on the female empowerment on the tourism businesses for a long time in the Columbia. This fact was supported by the American research conducted on the topic of women empowerment through the tourism practices (Adongo, Taale and Adam 2018). According to the study, it was discussed that the females who are doing tourism industry work are completely neglecting the childcare and other parenting activities for their children. Such type of action from the women has reduced the importance of women empowerment through the tourism opportunities (Adongo, Taale and Adam 2018).

It has also been discussed by CANO and TABARES (2018). that the even though this type of action for the women empowerment through the tourism opportunities; yet the researchers had identified that the females can earn great revenues and can support the growth of the economic activities in the region. It was also explained by Niño-Torres (2019) that these increased revenues earned by the females are limited on the condition of the development of the economic infrastructure that can support the actual growth of the female empowerment practices. It was also explained by Macías-Prada et al. (2019) that the issues raised by the social development of the female workers through the empowerments can be described as the practices that are performed by the women who are looking for the development opportunities in the coming future.

It was understood by Macías-Prada, et al. (2019) that different feminist theories had been developed that support the fact that the women empowerment can be done by performing the tourism activities. In this manner, the females can easily help the economy in moving towards the effective growth. Moreover, it is further discussed by Stephan (2018) that there is no agreed policy on the global level that support the promotion and the successful delivery of the women empowerment through the opportunities of the tourism activities. It is also explained by Stephan (2018) that there had been many projects that had supported the need of the women empowerment through the tourism opportunities. But, the occurrence of these projects is not been in the regular manner for the research material to be developed in an effective manner. It is also explained by different researchers that the gender equality and the tourism development had always been discussed on the big platforms of the globe but these statements were not supported for the growth of the tourism industry and women empowerment in the region of Columbia (Alrawadieh, Karayilan and Cetin 2019).

Discussion

Concept of women empowerment from theoretical perspective

The conceptualisation of the women empowerment had been performed through the use of different theories and other theoretical perspectives. It had been discussed by Zapalska and Brozik (2017) that theoretical understanding of the women empowerment can be described as the women ability to make such decisions that had a direct impact on the better outcomes for their family and for themselves in an effective manner. It is also discussed by Serafimova and Petrevska (2018) the women empowerment also includes such decision-making ability to the females so that they can easily make some strategic choices about the work related to the business and other home activities. 

It was further stated by Panta and Thapa (2018) that he concept of women empowerment can be described as the power of the women to alter such decisions that increase their self-righteousness and can easily enhance the autonomy of the females for influencing the decision making processes. It is also discussed by Movono and Dahles (2017) that the empowerment of the female can be supported through the feminist attitude towards the betterment of the females as the empowerment process guide the females towards developing their thinking outside the system and can support the choices made by them in performing the actual business activities.

Primary factors that influence women empowerment through tourism entrepreneurship opportunities

It had been discussed by Mahadevan and Suardi (2019) that they the main factors that generally impact the women empowerment through the tourism entrepreneurship is based on the few factors of age, marital status, health, intra-household distribution, and participation in the economic activities. It was further explained by Kimbu and Ngoasong, (2016) that the females who are having control over the resources of doing business does not include their practices towards the women empowerment. But their decisions are in the result of the women empowerment. Such owning of the resources for doing business give them an edge over the processes of business. It was also explained by Fu et al. (2019) that owning the resources is the central theme to perform the business activities and hence such power can easily the women empowerment.

Even though, it is much difficult for the professionals to allocate the numbers to the gender equality having impact on the women empowerment. It was further added by the researchers that the data is required for measuring the level of the poverty that been existed in the country. This is because the poverty can become the main initiative for the women empowerment for the countries like Columbia (Serafimova and Petrevska 2018). 

Critically evaluating and analyse the influence of tourism entrepreneurship opportunities on women empowerment for women in Colombia.

Hartwell et al. (2018) had explained the fact the men and women are directly impacted by the tourism activities that are conducted in the society. It was also further explained that the women who are working in the tourism industry are generally been exploring and communalising the impact of the activities that are been performed through tourism (Hartwell et al. 2018). It was further explained by Henry, Foss and Ahl (2016) that the empowerment of women through the tourism opportunities can be performed when they indulge themselves in the eco-tourism activities. It was also explained by Digan et al, (2019) that the eco-tourism opportunities helps the females in the strengthening their abilities to make decisions that generally support the growth of their business.

Adongo, Taale and Adam (2018) had explained that fact that the women had the power to negotiate their ways through the different situations. This ability of the females can easily help the women in practicing the empowerment in a manner that can support the growth of the tourism activities when the females are performing the activities. It was also discussed by CANO and TABARES (2018) that the tourism activities can effectively enhance the empowerment level of the women as the women will be involved in the making decisions about the tourism projects and can have effective project settings that can help them in increasing the revenues for their families and for the government of Columbia.

Conclusion

The current chapter develops the content analysis of the selected research literature that was selected after following the inclusion and exclusion criteria of research. It was analysed in the content that the women of Colombia had a great potential to become tourism entrepreneurs once they are provided with empowerment. It was established in the research that the women of Columbia need empowerment as they had to support their families through the activities of that can also support the government. It was mentioned in the section, with the delivery of successful women empowerment, the women of Columbia can become self-sufficient in earning a life for themselves and for their families. Yet, these females experience different challenges while attaining empowerment. These challenges are related to warnings generated by the local militia for maintaining gender inequalities. Other challenge is based on the government actions that are unsupportive of the activities. 

Further, it was explained in the content analysis that there are different factors that can impact the empowerment of women in the region of the country. It was further explained in the content analysis that these factors had great influence on the performance of the women empowerment of the females who are opting for the women empowerment activities. It was further explained in the analysis that opportunities of tourism activities in the Columbia can easily bring the chances of the women empowerment in the country. The successful implication of the women empowerment can help the economy and the women of country in having effective revenues that can easily sustain the growth.

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusion per Objective

The primary objective of the research was to study the concept of women empowerment from a theoretical perspective. By examining the content, it can be concluded that empowerment of woman would increase the prosperity in a nation as the techniques and strategies used by woman for running the state would differ from men and can end up being successful for a nation

The second objective of the study was to identify the primary factors that influence women empowerment through tourismentrepreneurship opportunities. By reviewing the findings, it can be concluded that risk taking and decision making are primary factors that influenced women empowerment through tourism entrepreneurship opportunities

The third and foremost objective of this research was to critically evaluate and analyse the influence of tourism entrepreneurship opportunities on women empowerment for women in Colombia. It has been concluded that government was major entity that provided entrepreneurial opportunities such as training and finance to woman in Columbia in order to increase their role in economy and uplift their status

Conclusion and Recommendations

Conclusion 1, Recommendation 1:

By examining the content, it can be concluded that empowerment of woman would increase the prosperity in a nation as the techniques and strategies used by woman for running the state would differ from men and can end up being successful for a nation. Moreover, it is recommended to give more autonomy to woman so that they can express their true potential other than what is perceived by society based on pre-determined notions.

Conclusion 2, Recommendation 2:

By reviewing the findings, it can be concluded that risk taking and decision making are primary factors that influenced women empowerment through tourism entrepreneurship opportunities. Lastly, the study recommends that organisation must promote woman for managerial position based on their decision making and risk taking abilities as it would allow them to create more opportunities for empowering women through tourism entrepreneurship opportunities.

Conclusion 3, Recommendation 3

Lastly, by analysing the influence of tourism entrepreneurship opportunities on women empowerment for women in Colombia, it can be concluded that government was major entity that provided entrepreneurial opportunities such as training and finance to woman in Columbia in order to increase their role in economy and uplift their status. Thus, it is recommended to promote tourism entrepreneurship opportunities for woman via training and developments as it empowers the woman of Columbia to work in jobs that have higher status and improve their role in community.

Summarised Findings 

The primary objective of the research was to study the concept of women empowerment from a theoretical perspective. By doing content analysis, it has been found that woman empowerment is an action to increase the status of woman in society. Moreover, the analysis also evaluated that woman empowerment tend to open multiple doors for woman for availing opportunities in the modern society and alter their perceived role as caretaker in household. Additionally, it has been found that the phenomena of woman empowerment was emerged due to extensive undermining of woman’s ability in the society. Furthermore, it has been found that woman empowerment is the process for redefining the role of woman and increasing their autonomy for decision making. However, several studies identified that woman empowerment was emerged to bring equality between both sexes male and female in terms of their contribution in society. 

The second objective of the study was to identify the primary factors that influence women empowerment through tourism entrepreneurship opportunities. The investigation revealed that there are several factors such as risk taking and decision making in tourism entrepreneurship that plays a dominant role in empowering the woman. Similarly, it has been found that tourism entrepreneurship improves woman’s ability to take risk and make appropriate decision during start-ups to grow their business. Additionally, it has been evaluated that government of Columbia played a great role in empowering the woman by giving them opportunities and finances for starting business in agriculture to support their family. 

The third and foremost objective of this research was to critically evaluate and analyse the influence of tourism entrepreneurship opportunities on women empowerment for women in Colombia. The findings revealed that from around 25 years, multiple government regularities in Colombia has been working for empowering the role of woman in a nation. However, up till now, only woman of higher social class has been given prominence and entrepreneurial opportunities in Columbia. Woman living in rural areas under poor living conditions are yet to get equal entrepreneurial opportunities in Columbia. Additionally, it has been evaluated that government of Columbia is running various campaigns to encourage woman in Columbia for taking part in business activities like doing negotiation and conflict resolution at workplace that consequently improved the level of woman empowerment in Columbia. 

Recommendations 

The current research revealed that Colombia has been taking several steps to improve the role of woman in the state. Moreover, the research contemplated that woman in Columbia is empowered thorough entrepreneurial opportunities provided by the government to boast the agricultural sector. Additionally, the current study highlighted decision making and risk taking as major elements of tourism entrepreneurship which inclines the woman to contribute in the economy of Columbia and raise their status in the society. However, woman of rural areas living in poor conditions are yet to be recognised as prominent in state of Columbia, Thus, by referring to the findings, the following recommendations are provided:

The first recommendation is to increase the role of woman in leadership and managerial roles at multiple organisations of Columbia as it would allow them to positively impact the economy of a nation and work for other woman that are living in underprivileged areas of Columbia and accounted for gender discrimination. It has been noticed that woman are mostly found in food production industry, management of natural resources and tech industry. Hence, it would be vital to provide entrepreneurial opportunities to woman to test their skills of risk taking and decision making that could end up being beneficial for the economy of Columbia. 

Another recommendation would be to give thorough training and mentoring to woman in Columbia pertaining to tourism entrepreneurship as they would be key resource to attract foreign businesses for investing in local enterprises that are owned and successfully managed by woman of Columbia; Training and mentoring would make woman profoundly skilled and productive in entrepreneurial sector. Additionally, training would include emotional intelligence and rational decision making that would increase the productivity of the workforce via motivation techniques employed by woman entrepreneurs.  

It has been found that woman working in rural areas are accounted for lower rates of wages than men; although, the effort of both is somehow the same. Since the woman of rural areas are deprived of basic necessities, they are forced to work in lower wages. Hence, it is recommended that via tourism entrepreneurship, woman of Columbia would eradicate the issue of unfair wage rate based on gender inequality by forming policies for equal wage rate for labour irrespective of gender. Consequently, the woman would be safe from social abuses and increase their potential to get equal wages like men which would eventually increase woman empowerment in Columbia.

Future Implications

As primarily, the study aimed to explore women empowerment opportunities, through tourism entrepreneurial activities, by focusing on the specific case of Colombia. The current study would improve the status of woman in multiple nations by highlighting the role played by the government of Columbia in similar regard. Additionally, the current referred multiple institutions operating in Columbia to train and mentor the woman for entrepreneurial activities as it would increase the respect of woman in society. Moreover, the current study highlighted that skills and abilities possessed by woman that could be beneficial in taking critical decision for formulating policies on gender equality in developing nations like Columbia. The factors of tourism entrepreneurship were part of this research that would assist woman entrepreneurs to work productively and efficiently that could possibly improve their status in the modern society and eradicate gender inequality from developing nations. The current research stated the importance of woman in tourism entrepreneurship as from a global relational point of view, the familiarity created by guests visiting Columbia from around the globe can bring a sense of sympathy for that country through their encounters as guests. With more empowered woman in a nation, comes more qualitative woman entrepreneurs that can change the conventional perceived role of woman as caretakers of their beloved to major contributor for solving social and economic challenges in an economy.