Abstract:
Increasing tourist arrivals have improved women’s participation in small-scale
tourism enterprise activities. Nonetheless, women entrepreneurs face continuous
challenges. Consequently, this study explores the nature of gender inequalities in
the key tourism business sub-sectors in Sri Lanka. The researcher collected data
from small-scale tourism enterprises in the Hikkaduwa Urban Council (HUC) of
Galle District, Sri Lanka. They employed a mixed approach using a semi
structured questionnaire (195 women and 195 men entrepreneurs), key informant
interviews (25), non-participant observation, and in-depth interviews (24). A
stratified random sampling method was applied to three (3) tourism-related
small-scale sub-sectors. The sub-sectoral differences associated with gender
differences in small-scale entrepreneurs were analyzed by comparing women and
men. The results revealed that lack of institutional support, stereotyped roles in
the household and household responsibilities, and the performance and growth of
enterprises run by women are negatively impacted by social standards that do not
acknowledge women as leaders. Compared to other sub-sectors, women in food
and beverages sub-sector are influenced by cultural barriers and get less family
support. Women entrepreneurs in the accommodation sub-sector have shown
improved coping strategies. Strong gender norms have deprived women
entrepreneurs in the tourism-affiliated retail service sub-sector; hence, they
became more interested in BA than women entrepreneurs in other sub-sectors.
However, men dominating the leadership positions in business associations and
exclude women from access to networks and connections, and gender norms limit
their performance and participation in leadership. This study adds to the limited
literature works available on women entrepreneurs by advancing how and why
different gender roles and practices prevail among men and women in various
sub-sectors of small-scale tourism enterprises.
