Inclusive Tourism Asymmetries: Location and Gender Aspects

Abstract

The capacity of tourism to include marginalized groups and alleviate poverty
has been widely researched with diverging results. This study aims at
appraising the economic contribution of tourism comparatively using location
and gender. Using a structured questionnaire conveniently distributed to
households nearby national parks and historical sites in Tanzania, a dataset of
507 participants was used to perform descriptive and non-parametric mean
comparison analyses. Overall, local residents in and/or around tourism areas
perceive tourism to contribute to poverty alleviation. However, the contribution
of tourism in poverty alleviation differs with location, with remote locations
receiving lesser economic benefits compared to centrally located areas.
Furthermore, the results show tourism economic benefits not to depend on the
gender of residents. Inclusive tourism initiatives need to consider locality in
designing and implementation of tourism projects in ensuring equitable
benefits. The comparative approach using location and gender in assessing the
tourism potential to alleviate poverty is the unique approach of the study.