Chapter 6: Understanding the Experiences of Rural Women in Sustaining Tourism Enterprises

The African continent is characterised by high levels of unemployment (African Development Bank, 2019), and rural women face even more difficulties in securing formal employment, which prompts them to establish their ventures. Tourism activities offer them favourable conditions in the face of declining agricultural output, adverse weather conditions and lack of professional skills (McGehee, Kim, & Jennings, 2007). Mkhize and Cele (2017) observe that Southern Africa's rich culture and heritage create opportunities for rural women to develop their tourism ventures. The participation of rural women both as entrepreneurs and employees is widely acknowledged in most literature (Beqo & Gehrels, 2017; Brush & Cooper, 2012; Foley, Grabowski, Small, & Wearing, 2018). Nonetheless, there is a dearth of literature about the lived experiences of rural women who have managed to sustain their ventures, with much literature focussing on tourism potential, lack of skills, challenges faced and external agent involvement (Amador-Ruiz & Briones-Peñalver, 2017; Chitsike, 2000; Pascale, Urmee, Whale, & Kumar, 2016). This study contributes to the existing literature about women entrepreneurship through an understanding of the experiences of rural women involved in culturally based tourism entrepreneurship, tapping into their use of indigenous knowledge systems, and understanding how they negotiate the myriad of challenges they face from a regional perspective.