Women as vectors of social entrepreneurship in hospitality and tourism

<p>Abstract copyright data collection owner.</p>The aim of collecting this data was to explore the meaning, changing nature and implications of women as vectors of social entrepreneurship in the hospitality and tourism industry with the goal of identifying new directions on the role of women in fostering local development through social entrepreneurship in the hospitality and tourism industry of emerging destinations such as Cameroon. Women play a very important role in tourism development through their entrepreneurial activities and businesses, the majority of which have an embedded social purpose. In emerging country destinations of Sub-Saharan Africa in particular, their role is significantly being reshaped by socio-cultural shifts, changes in employment, migration and mobility patterns, and information and communication technologies. Despite the importance of this topic, researchers have paid only intermittent, and largely ad hoc, attention to it resulting in a dearth of qualitative and/or quantitative data on this topic. In developing country destinations such as Cameroon, most micro and small tourism enterprises are owned and/or managed by women who also form the bulk of the labour force in the industry. However, there is very little research (data) investigating the role of female H&T entrepreneurs in promoting economic development through social entrepreneurship. Although the interview questions varied depending on the interviewees, generic themes focused on the importance of social capital and SE to them, understanding societal influences on the structure, operations and practices of their businesses, their motivations for engaging in SE and how this in turn promotes H&T, as well as local economic and community development in Cameroon. In total five focus group (FG) discussions (i.e. 4 women only FGs and 1 mixed FG ranging from 5 to 10 participants per group and lasting between 75 minutes to 100 minutes), and twenty-one semi-structured interviews (ranging from between 35 minutes to 85 minutes) were conducted for this project. Participants in the FGs and interviewees ranged from owner/managers of businesses involved in accommodation provision; food, beverage & catering services; arts and craft vendors; transporters; hospitality education/training providers; health, security & environmental services, non-governmental organisations involved in hospitality & tourism. Included with the FG and interview transcripts are sample copies of the FG guide, interview guide; participant information sheet; note taking form, as well as the consent form which all FG participants and interviewees had to sign before the start of the FGs and interviews. <p>Project description:</p>The main objective of this project is to explore a model of social entrepreneurship (SE) in Cameroon focusing on the nature of engagement and participation by female entrepreneurs in hospitality and tourism (H&T). Making use of a qualitative ethnographic approach, this project intends to critically analyse the role of women as vectors of social entrepreneurship and value creation through H&T. Research suggests that social entrepreneurship if well executed is a key contributor to lifting disadvantaged groups out of poverty and leads to local economic development. There is however a wider debate on the effectiveness of some SE programmes in developing countries and a total dearth of research on (female) social entrepreneurship in H&T. This project will add to the extant literature by exploring the nature, motivations and extent to which female entrepreneurs in H&T use their businesses as platforms for engagement in various forms of social enterprises leading to value (co)creation and community development while demonstrating how this differs from the ‘traditional' understanding of SE. This raises two key questions that this project investigated: 1) In what ways can H&T related businesses owned by female entrepreneurs be considered as social enterprises and how does the structure and organization of society shape the nature of female participation in social entrepreneurship? 2) What are the challenges involved in mobilizing female entrepreneurs into a system that allows for effective engagement in H&T ventures with social enterprise as the key guiding philosophy, and do these businesses create a new equilibrium that provides a meaningfully higher level of satisfaction for all participants in the value chain