Women Entrepreneurs’ Strategies and Tourism Development in Zanzibar
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Date
2017
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Dar es Salaam Business School
Abstract
This article uses the concept of enactment to determine how the strategies
women adopt to work in the tourism industry contribute to the development of the
industry in Zanzibar. The article positions women as capable of negotiating with
the structures that constrain their participation in the tourism industry and that
they are an integral part of the environment they live or operate in. It identifies
the strategies they use and their coping mechanism. As women in the Zanzibar
archipelago have generally been limited in their exposure to formal education,
they deploy their household competence to thrive in the industry. In addition,
they play a balancing act to ensure they accommodate the needs of their
marriages and societal culture while engaging in the tourism industry. Besides
they trust and act upon their own choices. The strategies they adopt are either
for maintaining respect by conforming to the established norms and values or
getting more benefits from tourism by neglecting complying with those traditions.
As such, women choose to work as producers, retailers or distributers. Through
their work choices, the women in Zanzibar have added value to the distribution
chain and contribute by supplying crafts and cosmetics that help to foster
cultural tourism.
Description
Keywords
agency, enactment, households‟ competency, Zanzibar, domestic sphere