Managing Women Empowerment Through Participation in Sustainable Tourism Development in Kampong Phluk, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Abstract

Tourism has been one of important Cambodia’s key economic growth drivers (OECD, 2018). After Khmer Rouge, most Cambodian women have become head of their families and indispensable part of the development in all sectors in Cambodia, including tourism. This study aims to explore how tourism influences on managing women empowerment and the participation of women in sustainable tourism development in Kampong Phluk community-based tourism site, Siem Reap, Cambodia. The qualitative descriptive approach with in-depth interviews, has been used for collecting data. The eighteen interviewees had at least 2 years’ experience in managing and participating in community-based tourism, especially female members. The constant comparison analysis is used to analyze data collected from the interviewees. The result revealed that tourism truly brings many socio-economic benefits to the local community, especially female members of the community by empowering them economically, socially, psychologically, and politically. This study also found that women are the key contributors to the development of sustainable tourism in their community by participating in all activities regarding economic sustainability, socio-cultural sustainability, and environmental sustainability, by managing the benefits from tourism and distributing them fairly to all people in the community but minimizing the negative impacts on the community’s natural resources plus preservation of the local culture.

The Effect of Community-Based Tourism on Woman Empowerment to Achieve Sustainable Development: The Case of Nuba

“…Source: Adapted from Timothy, 2002, Dunn, 2007, Irawan and Nara, 2020, and Mc Call and Mearns, 2021 The community-based tourism provides a variety of job opportunities for women. Furthermore, CBT projects have been an effective tool in supporting women's empowerment (Dunn, 2007;McCall and Mearns, 2021).…”

“…Women can perform different activities in CBT, for example: culture dances, home staying, guiding tours, making crafts, fishing, cooking food, beauty service and sometimes vending on streets (Chugh, 2001;Movono and Dahles, 2017;Irawan and Nara, 2020).…”

“…This research aims to focus on the role of CBT activities in empowering Nubian women and, in consequence, achieving sustainable development in Nuba, so the questionnaire was designed to measure the impact of CBT activities on Nubian women's empowerment by focusing on the economic, social, and psychological dimensions, which were adopted from Dunn, (2007), Ramchurjee, (2011), Irawan, &Nara, (2020), andMcCall andMearns, (2021). Also, the aspects employed to gauge Nubian women's empowerment in CBT for attaining sustainable development were the economic, sociocultural, environmental, and local community and tourism development indicators, which were adopted from study.…”

Barriers and Opportunities for Women in Tea Tourism: A Qualitative Examination of Policy Context in Yaoqu Township, China

“…This comprises boosting women in management, reducing obstacles to admission, and giving women equal access to industrial assets (Raihan et al, 2022). Opportunities for women's economic independence and community growth may be found in community-based tourist programs and ecotourism (Irawan & Nara, 2020). Also, Irawan and Nara (2020) argued that women in rural and disadvantaged areas can benefit from policies that encourage and facilitate the development of community-based tourist companies like homestays and craft manufacturing.…”

“…Opportunities for women's economic independence and community growth may be found in community-based tourist programs and ecotourism (Irawan & Nara, 2020). Also, Irawan and Nara (2020) argued that women in rural and disadvantaged areas can benefit from policies that encourage and facilitate the development of community-based tourist companies like homestays and craft manufacturing. Sustainable tourism and the maintenance of indigenous cultures are two other goals that may benefit from such efforts.…”