From empowering women to being empowered by women: A gendered social innovation framework for tourism-led development initiatives

Abstract

Female entrepreneurship plays a crucial role in fostering tourism-led development (TLD). However, TLD narratives often focus on individual women's empowerment while overlooking underlying gender inequalities. They also neglect broader societal changes needed. To address this, we examine the interplay between empowerment and gendered social innovation in the context of a TLD project aimed at women entrepreneurs. Using a qualitative approach, this research involved in-depth semi-structured interviews with 32 women tourism entrepreneurs from Ecuador and México; and dialogues with 7 project team members. Results shed light on the intricate connection between individual and relational empowerment and gendered social innovation. This study's original contribution is a multiangled framework of gendered social innovation as an ongoing process of social change attached to female tourism entrepreneurship, empowerment, and evolving social practices of working with and among women tourism entrepreneurs as local partners. Theoretical and practical implications for policymakers and tourism-led development practitioners are discussed.