Gender Discrimination in Wildlife Tourism Services in Buea, Southwest Region, Cameroon

Year 2018, , 95 - 104, 30.06.2018

Melle Ekane Maurice , Akime Sharon Merozette Ndoua Ekabe Quenter Mbinde Esong Lionel Ebong

https://doi.org/10.30625/ijctr.435084

Abstract

In wildlife tourism
industry women are being accepted on the surface as part of the work-force, but their reception into senior management level is stifled due to subtle forms of discrimination that present themselves in compensation, training
and socialization networks.
However, the expansion of wildlife tourism industry needs
the proper integration and involvement of women. The main objective of this
study was to explore the discrimination of women working in wildlife tourism
industry in Buea. A total of two hundred and fifty questionnaires were
administered to a randomly selected population of women working in wildlife
tourism industry in Buea. The results have shown a significant association
between tourism service and the frequent bullying of female workers (X²
= 23.822 df=3, P<0.05). The survey also revealed a significant relationship
between gender discrimination and reasons for low women employment (X²
= 23.867 df=6, P<0.05). Moreso, a significant association was shown between
challenges faced by women and the reasons for low women employment (X²
= 11.429 df=6, P<0.05). A respondent score of 66.93%, 21.91%, and 11.16% was
recorded on the lack of physical ability, women marginalization, and poor
training respectively as key reasons for low employment rate for women in the
tourism industry in Buea. Inaddition, the study has recorded a respondent score
of 33.86%, 32.67%, 19.12%, and 14.34% on communication, hotel management,
transportation, and department of tourism respectively on the female work-force
in this industry. In Cameroon, the proportion of women reaching top management positions
in wildlife tourism industry has remained relatively  insignificant due to the existence of discriminatory barriers. 

Keywords

Wildlife tourism, Women employment, Women marginalization, Hotel management, Poor training

References

• Anderson, L. A., & Littrell, M. A. (1995). Souvenir-purchase behaviour of women tourists. Annals of Tourism Research, 22(2), 328-348.
• Bolles, A. (1997). Women as a category of analysis in scholarship on tourism: Jamaican women and tourism employment. In E. Chambers (Ed.), Tourism and culture: An applied perspective. Albany: State University of New York Press.
• Doepke, M., & Tertilt, M. (2010). Does female empowerment promote development? World Bank National Science Foundation, Zimbabwe: Women’s Resource Centre, Washington, D.C.: World Bank.
• Ekane N B, (2000), The Socio Economic Impact of Pronus Africana Management in the Mount Cameroon Region. case study of the Bukwango Community. Presented as partial fulfilment of the degree of M Sc. From the department of Urban Planning and Environment, Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm
• Fitton, J.D., Kilburn, C.R.J., Thirwall, M.F., Hughes, D.J., (1983). 1982 eruption of Mt. Cameroon, West Africa. Nature 306, 327e332
• Gupta, V., & Shah, K. (1999). Tourism in the Himalayas: Seizing the opportunity. In M. Hemmati (Ed.), Gender and tourism: Women’s employment and participation in tourism (pp. 57-70). Report for the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, 7th Session, April 1999, New York. London: United Nations Environment and Development Committee of the United Kingdom.
• Heath, Rachel (2014). “Women’s access to labor market opportunities, control of household resources, and domestic violence: Evidence from Bangladesh.” World Development 57 (2014): 32
• Hoddinott, J., & Haddad, L. (1995). Does female income share influence household expenditures? Evidence from Cote D’Ivoire. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 57(1), 77-96.
• ILO (2013). Tourism brings in the money, but gender inequality in the sector remains. (http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/3 28320/economy/business) visited 09/04/2015.
• International Labour Office (2004) Organizing for Social Justice, Geneva: International Labour Organization.
• Kim, S., & Littrell, M. A. (1999). Predicting souvenir purchase intentions. Journal of Travel Research, 38, 153-162.
• Mbilinyi, M. (2003). Equity, Justice and Transformation in Education: The Challenge of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Today. Haki Elimu Working Paper Series No. 2003.5, Dar es Salaam: HakiElimu.
• Melle E. M., Nkwatoh A. F. and Nsadzetsen R. A. (2016). The Ecological Distribution of Wild Prunus africana in Mount Cameroon National Park, Cameroon. Int. J. Curr. Res. Biosci. Plant Biol. 2016, 3(7): 73-80
• Mwinga Y. M. ( 2015 ). Investigation of hindrances towards women involvement in tour guiding activities in Tanzania: a case of Arusha municipality. A dissertation submitted in a partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts in tourism management and planning of the open university of Tanzania
• Nyaruwata, S. and Nyaruwata, L. T. (2013). Africa Journal of Business Management gender equity and executive management in tourism challenges in the (SADC) region. (http://www.academicjournals.org/AJBM) visited on 01/10/2015
• Phipps, S. A., & Burton, P. S. (1998). What’s mine is yours? The influence of male and female incomes on patterns of household expenditure. Economica, 65(260), 599-613.
• Scheyvens, R. (2000). Promoting women’s empowerment through involvement in ecotourism: Experiences from the third world. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 8(3), 232-249.
• Swain, M. (1990). Gender roles in indigenous tourism: Kuna Mola, Kuna Yala, and cultural survival. In V. Smith (Ed.), Hosts and guests: The anthropology of tourism (pp. 83-104). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
• Thornton, M (2011). 'An Inconsistant Affair: Feminism and the Legal Academy', in Martha Albertson Fineman (ed.), Transcending the Boundaries of Law: Generations of Feminism and Legal Theory, Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon, UK & New York, pp. 25-39.
• UNDP Global Report (2014).Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building ResilienceUNED-UK (1998). Gender and Tourism; Women's employment and participation inTourism. (http://www.oneworld.org/uned-uk) cite visited on 29/09/2015.
• UNWTO. (2007). Tourism highlights. Retrieved April 4, 2008, from http://unwto.org/facts/menu.html
• Yu, H., & Littrell, M. A. (2003). Product and process orientations to tourism shopping.Journal of Travel Research, 42(2), 140-150.