Tourism Entrepreneurship and Women Livelihood Assets in Beach Resorts, Lagos State Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51459/jostir.2025.1.Special-Issue.055Keywords:
Women, Tourism, Entrepreneur, Livelihood, BeachAbstract
The emergence of female entrepreneurship has significantly heightened women's participation in economic development. Yet, various obstacles are noted as hinderances to women's empowerment in tourism entrepreneurial endeavours. This study examines tourism entrepreneurship and women's livelihood assets at Elegushi, Eleko and Eko-Tourist Beach Resorts in Lagos State, Nigeria. Data were collected through 157 semi-structured questionnaires administered to female respondents. Descriptive and inferential statistics (Pearson Correlation, T-test) were used for data analysis. Results revealed that a significant proportion (29.3%) of the women were engaged in restaurants, hotels and chalet businesses, 15.29% were tourist guide, horse rental (14.64%), eateries/coffee shop owners (13.38%), photographers (12.74%) while 5.10% and 4.46% were swim coat vendors and women fisherfolk respectively. In addition, 52.2% reported a high level of involvement in tourism-related businesses, 53.5% managed their businesses independently while 49.7% of the women indicated that they choose tourism entrepreneurship in order to improve their livelihoods. Majority (32.5%) of the respondents opted for tourism entrepreneurship due to unemployment, 28% for the urge to use their professional skill and 20.4% due to dissatisfaction with their previous job. Although 35.7% of the respondents used their contribution as financial aid for their business, 25.5% used their personal savings, 11.5% and 10.2% benefitted from cooperatives and bank loans respectively, Key challenges experienced by the women entrepreneurs include limited working capital (41.8%), stiff competitions (19.4%), fluctuation in business (18.9%), inadequate skilled and experienced personnel (10.5%) and high wage demand (9.4%). The study found positive relationship between tourism entrepreneurship for livelihood enhancement and economic power.
Keyword: Women, Tourism, Entrepreneur, Livelihood, Beach
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