Unlocking the Potential of Women Entrepreneurs in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
Keywords:
Women Entrepreneurs, Tourism, Hospitality Industry, Women Empowerment, Job Creation
Abstract
At the height of political turmoil and the so-called economic downgrade to ‘junk’ status by rating agencies in South Africa, the tourism and hospitality industry, through women entrepreneurship, seems to be an alternative exit the government can use to foster economic growth and curb unemployment. The paper adopts an extensive documentary review analysis to determine the challenges and opportunities for women entrepreneurs in the tourism industry in South Africa. The paper observes that women entrepreneurs in the Eastern Cape Province face a myriad of challenges emanating from low levels of education, lack of financial resources, poor information dissemination, gender inequity, limited support from stakeholders, limited technical skills and reluctance to shift from status quo. The paper concludes that, to unlock the potential of tourism and hospitality industry, women entrepreneurs need to embrace education and get trained on how to use modern technologies-which is fundamental in coping with the trends in the globalized environment. The paper recommends and empowers women to be at the forefront and become active entrepreneurs in tourism opportunities whereby stakeholder funding is the key to achieve economic growth.
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References
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through the landscape of theories. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 24(1/2), 43–52.
Atelejevic, I. & Doorne, S. (2004). Cultural circuits of tourism: commodities, place and reconsumption, in A.A.
Lew, C.M. Hall and A.M. Williams (Eds), A Companion to Tourism, Blackwell, Oxford, 291-302.
Bastakais, C., Buhalis, D. & Butler, R. (2004). The perception of small and medium-sized tourism
accommodation providers on the impacts of the tour operators’ power in Eastern Mediterranean.
Tourism Management, 25, 151-170.
Beauchamp, T. L. & Bowie, N. E. (2004). Ethical Theory and Business. 7th Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Becker, G. S. (1993). ‘Nobel lecture: the economic way of looking at behaviour’. Journal of Political Economy,
101(3), 385 – 409.
Buhalis, D. & Cooper, C. (1998). Competition or co-operation? Small and medium-sized tourism enterprises at
the destination, in E.Laws, B. Faulkner and G. Moscardo (Eds), Embracing and Managing Change in
Tourism: International Case Studies, Routledge, London, 324-346.
Burrows R. & Curran J. (1989). Sociological research on service sector small businesses: some conceptual
considerations. Work, Employment and Society, 3, 527-539.
Chinomona, E. & Maziriri, E. T. (2015). Women in Action: Challenges Facing Women Entrepreneurs in the
Gauteng Province of South Africa. International Business & Economics Research Journal, 14(6), 835-
846.
Chu, H. M., Kara, O. & Benzing, C. (2008). An Empirical Study of Nigerian Entrepreneurs: Success, Motivations,
Problems and Stress. International Journal of Business Research, 8(2), 102-116.
Davis, P. J. (2012). The global training deficit: the scarcity of formal and informal professional development
opportunities for women entrepreneurs. Industrial and Commercial Training, 44(1), 19 – 25.
Dreher, G. F. (2003). Breaking the glass ceiling: The effects of sex ratios and work-life programs on female
leadership at the top. Human Relations, 56(5), 541.
Drine, I. & Grach, M. (2010). Supporting Women entrepreneurs in Tunisia. September 2010, UN-WIDER
working paper. World Institute for Development.
Erkkila, D. (2004). SMEs in regional development, in P. Keller and T. Bieger (eds), The Future of Small and
Medium Sized Enterprises in Tourism. International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism,
Publication, 46, 23-34.
Gale, A. (1994). Women in non-traditional occupations: The construction industry. Women in Management
Review, 9(2), 3–15.
Gatewood, E. G., Carter, N. M., Brush, C. G., Greene, P. G. & Hart, M. M. (2003). Women Entrepreneurs, Their
Ventures, and the Venture Capital Industry: An Annotated Bibliography. Stockholm:
Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research Institute.
Hakala, S. R. (2008). Women entrepreneurs: Challenges and successes in non-traditional industries. PhD
Dissertation. University of Phoenix.
Hall, C. M. & Rusher K. (2004). Risky lifestyles?: entrepreneurial characteristics of the New Zealand bed and
breakfast sector, in R. Thomas (ed), Small Firms in Tourism: International Perspectives. Elsevier,
Amsterdam, 83-98.
Hofstee, E. (2006). Constructing a Good Dissertation: A practical Guide to Finishing a Masters, MBA or PHD on
schedule. Sandton: EPE.
Hoopes, D. G., Madsen, T. L. & Walker, G. (2003). Guest editors’ introduction to the special issue: Why is there
a resource-based view? Toward a theory of competitive heterogeneity. Strategic Management
Journal, 24(10), 889-902.
Hunter, S. A. & Kapp, J. M. (2008). Women Entrepreneurs across Racial Lines: Issues of Human Capital,
Financial Capital and Network Structures. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). (2005). From Micro to Small Business: Meeting the
growth challenges faced by rural women by H. Perrett. International Labour Organisation.
International Labour Organisation (ILO). (2001). Mayoux L. Jobs, gender and small enterprises: getting the
policy environment right. SEED Working Paper No. 15. Geneva.
International Labour Organisation (ILO). (2012). Women’s Entrepreneurship Development. Encouraging
women entrepreneurs for jobs and development. http. Accessed 24-04-2017.
Iyiola, O. & Azuh, D. (2014). Women entrepreneurs as small medium enterprise (SME) operators and their
roles in socio-economic development in Ota, Nigeria. International Journal of Economics, Business and
Finance, 2(1), 1-10.
Jose, A. & Lee, S. M. (2007). Environmental Reporting of Global Corporations: A Content Analysis Based on
Website Disclosure. Journal of Business Ethics, 72, 307-321.
Kropf, M. B., Moore, M., Galinsky, E., Salmond, K., Bond, J. T. & Harrington, B. (2003). Leaders in a Global
Economy: Study of Executive Women and Men. Executive summary. Available at:
www.catalystwomen.org [Accessed on 20 April 2017].
Lebakeng, M. A. (2008). An Exploration of Women Entrepreneurship in Lesotho. South Africa. North West
University (Master Dissertation).
Leedy, P. D. & Ormrod, J. E. (2010). Practical research: Planning and design. International and 9th edition.
Boston: Pearson.
Nafukho, F. M., Hairston N. R. & Brooks, K. (2004). Human capital theory: implications for human resource
development. Human Resource Development International, 7(4), 545-551.
Manolova, T. S., Carter, M. N., Maney, I. M. & Cryoshev, B. S. (2007).The differential effect on men and women
entrepreneur's human capital and networking on growth expectancies in Bulgaria. Entrepreneurship:
Theory and Practice, 31(3), 407–426.
Muda, I. & Rafiki, A. (2014). Human Resources Development and Performance of Government Provincial
Employees: A Study in North Sumatera, Indonesia. Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, 6 (2),
152-162.
Pechlaner, H. & Tschurtschenthaler, P. (2003). Tourism policy, tourism organisations, and change
management in Alpine regions and destinations. A European perspective, Current Issues in Tourism, 6,
508-539.
Reeves, M. (2010). Women in Business: Theory, case studies and legal challenges. Routledge, London and New
York, 2010.
Rogerson, C. M. (2005). Tourism SMMEs in South Africa: A Case for Separate Policy Development? Working
Paper 2.TIPS.
Schultz, T. W. (1993). The economic importance of human capital in modernization. Education Economics,
1(1), 13-19.
South Africa. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. (1996). Pretoria: Government Printer.
Thabethe, E. (2006). Gender and women economic empowerment workshop, February. Ministry of Trade and
Industry. Orlando-West. South Africa.[Web] http://www.polity.org.za/article.phppa_cd=81530 [date
of access:
Telisman-Kosuta, N. & Ivandic, N. (2004). Strategic partnerships as a key competitive factor for SMEs: case
study of Croatia’s small family hotels, in P. Keller and T. Bieger (eds), The Future of Small and
Medium Sized Enterprises in Tourism, International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism,
Publication 46, St Gallen, 219-233.
Todaro, M. (2011). Development economics. England: Pearson Education Ltd.
Thomas R. (2004) International perspectives on small firms in tourism: a synthesis, in R. Thomas (ed), Small Firms in Tourism: International Perspectives, Pergamon, Oxford, 1-12.
Thuaibah, A. B., Azlah, M. A., Rozeyta, O., Hishamuddin, M. S. & Noorizwan, S. (2007). Women’s involvement in entrepreneurship in Johor: a study about critical success factors in achievement and failure in handling business, Project report. UniversitiTeknologi Malaysia.
Orhan, M. & Scott, D. (2001). Why women enter into entrepreneurship: An explanatory model. Women in Management Review, 16(5), 232.
Wanhill, S. (2004). Government assistance for tourism SMEs: from theory to practice, in R. Thomas (ed), Small Firms in Tourism: International Perspectives. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 53-70.
Webster, M. (1998). Strategies for growth, in Thomas R. (ed), The Management of Small Tourism and Hospitality Firms. Cassell, London, 207-218.
White, M. M., Jones, J. M., Riley, K. & Fernandez, R. (2009). Women, Family and the Rural Economy. England. Fulbright- Hays Group Project Abroad.
Women in Africa Doing Business, (2008). Case studies of women entrepreneurs across Africa who have overcome legal and regulatory obstacles to create new business opportunities.http://www.doingbusiness.org/~/media/FPDKM/Doing%20Business/Documents/Special-Reports/Women-in-Africa.pdf. Accessed 19 April 2017.
Worrall, L., Harris, K., Thomas, A., Stewart, R., Jessop, S. & Platten, A. (2008). Organisational cultures: Retention and progression barriers to women in the UK construction industry. International Journal of Communities, 8(3), 31–40.
Published
2017-09-04
How to Cite
Nomnga, V. J. (2017). Unlocking the Potential of Women Entrepreneurs in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, 9(4(J), 6-13. https://doi.org/10.22610/jebs.v9i4(J).1817
Issue
Section
Research Paper
Copyright (c) 2017 Vikelwa Judith Nomnga
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