Assessment of public sector tourism development determinants influence on gender equality in Kenya: a case of Kisumu County.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess public sector tourism development determinants influence on gender equality in Kisumu County. In Kenya, there is no systematic collection, analysis and dissemination of information on gender statistics in terms of disaggregated data by sex and age, geographical location, financial access, technical support and capacity building, on the participation of women in tourism development. This study therefore, forms the basis of laying the foundation of gender statistics in tourism development by highlighting indicators that may be used to measure how effective public sector progress gender equality in tourism development. The study adopted exploratory research design to realize its objective. A systematic sampling procedure was utilized to select the respondents from a sampling frame of the registered tourism practitioners in Kisumu County from Tourism Regulatory Authority (TRA). A sample of 115 respondents was obtained from a target population of 190 men and women involved in tourism enterprises. To answer research questions one Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) was conducted with County Director of Tourism as well as one Focus Group Discussion (FGD) consisting of tourism experts and business men and women in Kisumu County. Finally, a structured questionnaire was administered to the respondents selected through from TRA database in the Kisumu County Office. The questionnaire as the instrument of the study was tested for its reliability and Cronbach alpha of 0.74 was obtained. Results indicate that public sector financial credit access does not positively influence gender equality in tourism development as its mean and standard deviation of 1.16 and 1.064 respectively is lower that the composite mean of 1.615 and standard deviation of 0.921. The other determinants statements, tourism capacity building, tourism planning and tourism product development positively influenced gender equality in tourism development as their means and standard deviation were above the composite mean and standard deviation. The study concluded that there is an indication that tourism development is effective in enhancing gender equality. It therefore underscores that the public sector actors still have a grey area in financial credit access towards enhancing gender equality in tourism development. The study recommended that the public sector create a financing models that can be extended to both men and women in the tourism sector. Area of further study should therefore should encompass effective ways to enhance financial credit inclusion for both men and women in the tourism sector.