Religious, contextual and media influence: determinants of the representation of female tour guides in travel agencies

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to investigate the perceptions of female tour guides’ lower and top levels of management in travel agencies about how misunderstanding Islam and its culture may engender the poor representation of women in the tour guide profession. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research method is used, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 full-time female tour guides working at several travel agencies in Egypt. Thematic analysis helped extract main ideas from the transcripts. Findings The representation of female tour guides in travel agencies is shaped by the following three determinants: religious (familial obligations and marital status), contextual (nature of tour guide activities, poor representation of women in senior tourism-related jobs, cronyism, sexual harassment and spread of foreign female tour guides) and media influence. Understanding these three factors may enable a more comprehensive representation of female tour guides. Practical implications Female tour guides could work closely with tourism policymakers in Egypt to shape the media messages about them. This might include elaborating on the main challenges faced by female tour guides. Social support from families and friends may allow female tour guides more freedom and empowerment. Originality/value This study contributes by filling a gap in tourism, human resources management and gender studies in which empirical studies on the representation of females in travel agencies have been limited so far.

Exploring the determinants of solo female travel intention among millennials: a comparative study from rural and urban perspectives

“…Solo female travelers seek thrilling experiences and opportunities for social engagement, knowledge acquisition and self-discovery; they aim to challenge themselves and attain a sense of independence (Vij et al, 2023). Furthermore, as women have gained increasing empowerment and equal access to education, health care, travel opportunities, employment and political engagement, they have shifted their perspectives, recognizing women's significant influence in determining their status (Mousa et al, 2023). Ghadban et al (2023) describe a conceptual framework and find that self-empowerment is the motivational factor of solo female traveling intention.…”

“…Perceived risk is the phenomenon that creates dissatisfaction among tourists on visiting their destination (Carballo et al, 2022). Furthermore, Mousa et al (2023) and Hosseini et al (2022) describe that harassment is a genuine concern for women in the H3. Perceived risks significantly influence tourists' intention to continue solo traveling.…”

“…, 2020). In addition, Mousa et al. (2023) state that female travelers are a valuable community for the tourism industry.…”

“…Single tourists have greater flexibility toward experiencing various activities at tourist destinations and fully discover such beautiful sceneries, ultimately feeling greater satisfaction and more intent to visit than married tourists (Nguyen Viet et al, 2020). In addition, Mousa et al (2023) state that female travelers are a valuable community for the tourism industry. Therefore, it is essential to recognize the voices of women travelers as this helps to enhance their current situation and ensure the efficient management and operation of tourism facilities.…”

“…However, no earlier research compared rural-urban among solo travel intentions of millennial women in India. In addition, several studies have been conducted on solo travelers' intentions among Muslim tourists (Juliana et al, 2023;Mousa et al, 2023). Nevertheless, to date, no study has empirically investigated the solo traveling intention of Indian women.…”