Introduction.  The present research addresses Community Tourism (CT) from a gender perspective in order for tourism to develop in an equitable and responsible manner, taking into account gender equality and the empowerment of women in this productive sector. CT is considered an activity that promotes sustainable local development by including local communities in the management and utilisation of existing natural and cultural resources.

However, despite its potential economic and social benefits, there are challenges related to gender equity (Brazales et al., 2021). In this sense, women's labour participation in community tourism has been the subject of attention, since gender inequalities remain entrenched and limit their access to employment opportunities and participation in decision-making.

The Salinas de Guaranda Parish, located in the Andean region in the central zone of Ecuador, is one of the representative milestones in the practice of CT. The Salinas de Guaranda community is made up of a group of community organisations, which are governed by a popular and solidarity-based economy. Its objective is to empower community members, small producers and farmers with the resources at their disposal in order to add value to the raw materials that belong to them. Part of their principles is cooperativism or association, which they use as an instrument to end poverty, unemployment, infrastructure, and other social problems facing the community (Ramírez, 2019).

However, despite being a benchmark in community tourism activity, women's labour participation in this activity still faces significant barriers, showing deeply rooted machista gender ideas in Ecuadorian society (Brazales, 2021). Given this premise, the question arises as to how the gender approach can be an opportunity to promote women's labour participation in community tourism in the Salinas de Guaranda Parish.

When analysing tourism from a gender perspective, the focus is on understanding the different ways in which "women and men contribute, experience and are affected, individually and collectively, by the development of the tourism sector" (Moreno, 2012). While tourism is one of the most significant and fastest growing economic sectors worldwide and contributes directly to job creation, studies have shown the different ways in which tourism can promote economic growth, reduce poverty and foster community development. However, little attention has been paid to the unequal distribution of tourism benefits between men and women, particularly in developing countries.

From this perspective, the importance of addressing power dynamics and gender equity within host communities is highlighted (Lanfant, 1995). In the case of the Salinas de Guaranda Parish, it is essential to understand how these dynamics influence women's labour participation in community tourism.

The importance of the study lies in the relevance of women's labour participation in community tourism not only as the basis for women's economic empowerment, but also in strengthening sustainability and equity within communities. Under these considerations, previous research has highlighted the importance of integrating the gender perspective in the design of community tourism policies and programmes to promote inclusion and equal opportunities for women (Pratt, 2007).

The objective of the present study was to analyse how the gender approach can be an opportunity to achieve greater labour participation of women in community tourism in the Salinas de Guaranda Parish.

The methodology used in the study was a mixed, non-experimental approach with an ethnographic design, which included structured surveys for women working in community tourism in the Salinas de Guaranda Parish. A thematic analysis of the data will be carried out to identify patterns and themes related to the barriers, challenges and opportunities for women's labour participation.

The conclusion that could be reached was that the labour participation of Women plays an important role as it is a fundamental tool to achieve Gender Equality in the tourism work environment of Salinas de Guaranda, since it breaks with the idea of machismo, gender roles and stereotypes and motivates women to occupy important administrative positions with better remuneration, thus promoting female empowerment, access to financial freedom and an improvement in the quality of life of the Salinas women.

Materials and Methods. In the specific case of this research, a mixed, non-experimental methodology was adopted, as proposed by Gómez et al. (Gómez et al, 2017). The researcher conducts the research without deliberately manipulating any variable. This involves observing the facts as they present themselves in their real context and at a given time or not, and then analysing them. Therefore, with the non-experimental design, a specific situation is not constructed, but rather the existing ones are observed, where the independent variables have already occurred and cannot be manipulated, which prevents influencing them to modify them.

"In non-experimental research, the independent variables occur and it is not possible to manipulate them, there is no direct control over these variables nor can they be influenced" (Hernández, Fernández and Baptista, 2014: 152), with the aim of analysing the gender approach as an opportunity to achieve the labour participation of women in community tourism in the Salinas de Guaranda Parish.

A descriptive ethnographic research design with a documentary design was also used, as indicated by Rojas, who states that "Ethnography is a process, a way of studying human life" (Rojas, 2002: 49). Ethnography focuses on the detailed study of a particular group or community, and what this type of analysis allows is for researchers to understand and interpret the way in which the people who operate in these groups live and perceive life.

Considering the descriptive nature of the study, strategies were designed to insert women into the work environment in the Salinas de Guaranda Community and in community tourism activities.

Community Tourism: A Global Vision. Tourism has developed to the point where it is no longer just about showcasing infrastructure and promotional needs, but also about redesigning and restructuring development policies based on changes and new trends in national and international markets, taking into account, on the same scale of values, the needs of the host community.

Changes in tourism activity worldwide go beyond technological, administrative, marketing or architectural innovations in hotels. The most important change is in the tourist and the way they observe their relationships with the natural and cultural geographic environment, with other tourists and their hosts. This is why Ruhanen (Ruhanen, 2013) argues that the sustainability of tourism requires that the political, economic and social actors involved in tourism production, at any level (local, regional, national and international), must reach understandings and achieve synergies, in a systematised and organised way, to define general objectives aimed at achieving benefits for the whole of society, mitigating negative impacts that tourism activity may produce.

According to Skoczek (Skoczek, 2000), the provision of tourism services has become a significant economic activity for many communities in Latin American countries, with tourism now being one of the factors of new forms of mobility.

There are many tourist destinations in Latin America that are seeking to strengthen themselves by implementing marketing, promotion and activity management strategies to foster and consolidate policies that help conserve the environment, while also seeking to value the culture and hospitality of the communities involved, where the main promoter is the state in terms of public management.

In terms of confirming tourism activity, Martín I. and Martín F. (Martín, 2013) suggest promoting sustainable tourism that contributes to understanding the balance between economic, environmental and sociocultural dimensions (Kart, 1991; Díaz, 2006), in a conceptual model that is based on the balance between social equity, economic efficiency and environmental conservation, as shown in Figure 1.

Fig. 1. Conceptual Model of Sustainable Tourism

Рис. 1. Концептуальная модель устойчивого туризма

Note: The conceptual model of Sustainable Tourism presents three important aspects: social equity, economic efficiency, and environmental conservation. This allows for strengthening sustainability in rural environments. As noted by Martín I. and Martín F. (Martín, 2013), this conceptual model can categorize the most important elements for creating a sustainable tourism development plan, considering a shift from the traditional economic model and improving the tourism model in specific territories to address imprecisions, inconsistencies and unresolved debates regarding sustainable tourism processes.

In this sense, many alternatives are being incorporated for tourism utilization in line with the activities being developed (Brazales et al., 2020). One such alternative is community-based tourism, managed and administered by peasant families, cooperatives or indigenous communities. As Cañada (Cañada, 2012) explains, community-based tourism in various Latin American countries is primarily driven by indigenous peoples and peasant families through their diverse collective organizational structures, playing a crucial role in its development, management, control, and distribution of its benefits.

The International Labour Organization (Organización..., 2013; Organización …, 2008) notes that this type of tourism has emerged due to significant changes in the economic, social, and political spheres, new patterns of sustainable development, and corporate social responsibility, among other factors. The importance of nature and cultural attractions in these territories has prompted governments to prioritise and promote community-based tourism as an alternative for economic and social development in rural areas.

As a result, community-based tourism has not only consolidated itself but also led to a variation in productive activities, generating new sources of employment. Community-owned resources such as water, forests, and land have been revalued. Residents of these regions have become local guides, providing services to visitors, while also offering communities the opportunity to play a role in generating the movement of production factors and the exchange of goods and services in the area.

Gender Equality in the World of Work and its Impact on the Tourism Sector. Now, once community tourism has been analysed, it is important to analyse gender equality, from the first studies conducted on the matter. First and foremost, it must be mentioned that in 1968, the scholar Robert Stoller in his book "Sex and Gender" made an important distinction on this topic, expressing that the concept of gender is opposed to that of sex, in that sex refers to the biological and anatomical differences between individuals, while the notion of gender is associated with the idea of femininity and masculinity, which has to do with those feminine or masculine factors with which people identify.

In this sense, as Simone (Simone, 1973) indicates, a person is not born as a man or a woman, but becomes one; gender responds to a concept whose nature is sociocultural and is determined by a social construction that will depend on the place in which the individual develops. Therefore, gender identifies individuals from their identity and not from their physical conditions, from birth, but rather responds to stereotyped factors of male or female roles.

The reality in tourism is no different, as Viteri D., Peñaherrera P. and Viñueza, J. (Viteri, 2017) consider, in the current model of what can be understood by the new tourism trends, reference is made to the important figure of social responsibility, which is analysed from different perspectives, especially that of ethics and the integration of society. This refers to the fact that, although the main objective of the company is the creation of economic income, the ideal is also that the company be known for a good reputation within the market and society, a matter which, beyond legal obligations, promotes a good image for the company, as is the case with those institutions that have included gender equality within their business objectives, especially in sectors where women have not achieved equal opportunities, as in tourism.

Equal Opportunities and the Sexual Division of Labour. To start this section, it can be mentioned that in the field of labour law, women also have a significant disadvantage compared to men. As an example, one can mention the phenomenon of statistical discrimination, proposed by Phelps (Phelps, 1972), Aigner and Cain (Aigner, 1977), in their works "The Statistical Theory of Racism and Sexism" and "Statistical Theories of Discrimination in Labour Markets".

In summary, this theory explicitly refers to the fact that when employers hire someone for a position, they take into account social stereotypes about them, beyond the preparation for certain jobs, and this influential factor means that some occupations are sexualised, i.e., there is the mistaken belief that they correspond to men or women. For this reason, "what is depicted as an adequate selection of labour demand hides behind a discriminatory element on the grounds of sex" (Pons, 2015: 98). This tourist demand may be discouraged by insecurity in the country (Brazales, Cabezas, et al., 2020).

According to this analysis, one could explain the reason why women are scarce in some employment sectors and much more present in others. Fabregat (Fabregat, 2008) explains that it is uncommon to see a woman in the mining, construction or transport sectors, while in contrast there is an overrepresentation of women in other occupations such as education, healthcare or tourism, the subject of our study.

Consequently, within the model of sexual division of labour, men come to occupy managerial positions, while women occupy positions in the service sector where there are domestic occupations or those responding to tourism activities as an example (housekeeper, cooks, laundresses, etc.).

In this context, the concern of major international organisations about gender equality ultimately focuses on two major international projects called the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The MDGs were established as an initial project of the United Nations that was proposed from 2000 to 2015 as the major goals of the member states.

In relation to this, goal 3 refers to "Promote gender equality and empower women", the results of which were published in the final report of the event, noting that by 2015, many more girls were going to school than before. This component, although it may seem imperceptible, is essential, as the education of women allows them to be much more competitive in the labour market and therefore have access to better jobs.

In this sense, the present research, in the case of the relationship between tourism, gender and employment opportunity, it is also important to consider that, beyond the legislative guidelines that have been implemented to guarantee gender equality, we are in the presence of the same reality that can be seen from two different perspectives: while it is true that women in the tourism sector are involved in a series of processes that prevent their empowerment and occupation of important positions, it is also true that in the case of women, factors associated with the social responsibility of companies and their commitments to achieving equality, have come to positively improve the conditions for women in the tourism sector today, for this reason, strategies should be proposed that allow these premises to be reinforced in pursuit of achieving labour equality for both men and women in the tourism sector.

In this context, as Community Tourism is a strategic activity for the Salinas de Guaranda Community, its analysis represents a highly relevant topic, since it includes a large part of the population with the active participation of the members of the community in local entrepreneurial initiatives.

The work environment of this activity, unfortunately, also presents problems of inequality against women, since the majority of managerial positions in companies and tourism are occupied by men, as confirmed by Quiñónez (Quiñónez, 2021), who states that only 25% of the companies that make up the Gruppo Salinas are led by women, while the other 75% are led by men. Another case arises in the 25 organisations that make up the Fundación Unión de Organizaciones Campesinas de Salinas (FUNORSAL), where only 8% is represented by a female figure and the remaining 92% by a male figure (Gobierno, 2021).

Thus, in the following paragraphs, the results obtained in the field research carried out through surveys of 112 people from the Salinas de Guaranda parish are presented, where the most relevant questions about community tourism and the labour insertion of women can be visualised, from the data obtained the tabulation is presented through frequency tables and the corresponding bar graphs, then the analysis and interpretation of the results are developed and presented below.

Results and Discussion. The specific case study was the gender-based approach as an opportunity to achieve the labour participation of Women in Community Tourism in the Salinas de Guaranda Parish, for which the focus was not only on analysing the conception but also how women could achieve insertion in the workplace, which resulted in the following.

Do you agree that the idea of machismo in the Salinas de Guaranda Community has limited the labour participation of women in Community Tourism.

Table 1

The idea of machismo in Salinas de Guaranda

Таблица 1

Идея мужественности в Салинас-де-Гуаранда

Note. Table 1 expresses the opinion of the informants on whether they agree that the idea of machismo in Salinas de Guaranda has limited the labour participation of women.

It is important to consider the statement made by Corrales Mejías, et al., where they indicate that these societal problems, such as: "Sexism as such does not arise as a fad, on the contrary, it is something that has remained latent in the culture over time" (Mejías, et al., 2005: 140). Thus, the majority of the respondents agree that the idea of machismo in the Community has limited the labour participation of women in Community Tourism, since in the past the role of women was restricted to the care of children and household chores, this has generated significant repercussions in the current society and the assignment of roles and social stereotypes according to gender, consequently, it is still believed that women are not qualified to perform certain activities in the workplace.

How important is it that men and women who perform the same type of work in Community Tourism receive the same remuneration?

Table 2

Equal pay for equal work

   Таблица 2

Равная оплата за равный труд

Note. Table 2 presents the opinion of the respondents on how important it is that men and women who perform the same type of work in Community Tourism receive the same remuneration.

For the majority of the informants, it is extremely important that men and women who perform the same type of work in Community Tourism receive the same remuneration, as, according to the principle of equality and various legal regulations, the employer is obliged to pay the same salary or wage to men and women who perform equal or similar work. However, the UNWTO (Organización…, 2019) in its report on women in the tourism industry states that, while the tourism sector had almost double the number of women employers than other sectors, women in tourism generally earn between 10% and 15% less than their male counterparts, and are well represented in service and office jobs, but poorly represented at the professional level. This landscape is also reflected in Salinas de Guaranda where there are cases in which the remuneration of women differs from that of men, especially in jobs with daily wage contracts. 

Do you agree that administrative and managerial positions within the tourism sector are mostly occupied by men?

Table 3

Administrative and managerial positions occupied by men

Таблица 3

Административные и управленческие должности, занимаемые мужчинами

Note. Table 3 expresses the respondents' response on whether they agree that administrative positions in tourism are mostly occupied by men. 

The majority of the people surveyed agree that the administrative and managerial positions within the tourism sector in Salinas de Guaranda are mostly occupied by men, which reaffirms Quintana and Martínez, (Quintana, 2019) who highlight the lack of women in managerial positions in tourism and hospitality. The document states that in the tourism and hospitality sector, women represent almost 70% of the workforce, however, paradoxically, there is a marked underrepresentation of women in managerial positions, with women occupying less than 40% of all managerial positions, less than 20% of general management positions and between 5% and 8% of board positions. Nevertheless, this problem has been present at a general level since remote times in the tourism sector, largely due to the idea of machismo, especially when it comes to assigning job functions and positions by employers, categorising women as incapable of leading.

How do you view the idea of providing training to women on topics related to tourism activity in order to empower them in the workplace?

Table 4

Training to achieve female empowerment

Таблица 4

Подготовка кадров для расширения прав и возможностей женщин

Note. Table 4 presents the opinion of the informants on how they value the idea of providing training to women regarding tourism activity to achieve their empowerment.

Based on the criteria of the informants, the idea of providing training to the women of Salinas de Guaranda, on topics related to tourism activity to achieve their empowerment in the workplace is excellent, as through this, women have the opportunity to acquire new knowledge, develop skills, improve attitudes, increase their productivity and, above all, increase their level of confidence, which translates into growth and development at both a personal and business level. Training is also important in more conventional organisations. Tourism organisations understand that training helps them to remain competitive through the continuous training of their personnel (Fritjof, 2009).

How necessary is it to strengthen the labor participation of women in community tourism in the community of Salinas de Guaranda?

Table 5

Strengthening Women's Participation in the Labor Force

Таблица 5

Расширение участия женщин в рабочей силе

Note. Table 5 expresses the criteria of the surveyed people regarding how necessary it is to strengthen the Labour Participation of Women in the TC of Salinas de Guaranda.

The majority of the respondents state that it is extremely necessary to strengthen the Labour Participation of Women in the TC of Salinas de Guaranda, due to the personal, economic and social benefits that this promotes.

The participation of women in the tourism sector, for Pritchard and Morgan (Pritchard, 2014), the situation of society and the tourism economy reflects the interrelationship between labour markets in general, due to the very pronounced gender segregation in employment. More than 70% of employees in tourism tasks are women. A detailed analysis of the functions of one gender or the other shows that the dominant sexual division of labour can be found in the tourism economy in an almost grotesque way: women are concentrated in the less valued informal survival sectors of society. Therefore, it can be concluded that in Ecuadorian societies that are opening up to tourism, gender relations tend to be reinforced and structural inequalities are strengthened. For this reason, strengthening the female labour participation in tourism activity is possible, their empowerment and leadership, and with it the reduction of their presence in traditional jobs, as well as allowing the deconstruction of several social paradigms against women.

As evidenced, after describing the gender approach as an opportunity to achieve the labour participation of women in community tourism in the Salinas de Guaranda Parish, it is concluded that the positions of the informants are divided on the issue of the Labour Participation of Women in the TC, as many consider that it develops in an ideal manner, however, there is a greater number of people who think the opposite, that is, that there are not the same job opportunities for men and women, given that, the idea of machismo and the belief that activities and functions within the tourism field must be carried out according to gender still exists.

Regarding Gender Equality, although Community Tourism in Salinas de Guaranda does promote the inclusion of women in the workplace, this does not occur under the same conditions and opportunities for men and women, as the managerial or senior management positions are represented by the male figure, while the labour of women is concentrated in less important jobs. Therefore, the respondents consider it very important to promote the participation of women in the workplace to achieve local development.

Regarding the strategies to incorporate women into the tourism labour field, it is of great importance as it aims to raise awareness in the population about Gender Equality and provide training on issues related to community tourism activity. It must also be taken into account that tourism companies must offer the same job opportunities, as this allows for the personal development of women and the economic growth of the locality; it is then appropriate to generate strategies that allow the strengthening of the Labour Participation of Women.

In this sense, the Labour Participation of Women constitutes a strategic axis from which it is possible to achieve Gender Equality, as it promotes female empowerment and leadership, their personal development and financial freedom, therefore, it is important to strengthen this participation in the Community Tourism of Salinas de Guaranda, mainly when inserting women in managerial administrative positions, one of the main problems that limits achieving Gender Equality within the tourism labour field..

Conclusions. As seen, women have traditionally been established as a vulnerable group at the social level, which ended up fitting into the world of work in the same proportion of vulnerability. This is why this study highlights the limited participation of women in the spheres of power within the companies under analysis, such as those of the Salinas Group within the Salinas de Guaranda community located in the central region of the country, in the Ecuadorian Andean region. In this regard, this participation according to official data collected is only 25% for women compared to 75% male representation for the spheres of power.

It is important to mention that through the research carried out, it was determined that in Salinas de Guaranda there is the "Salinas Group" which is made up of seven organizations: Funorsal, FFS, Fugjs, Coacsal, Producoop, Texsal and Funconquerucom, each administrator of these micro-enterprises has the competence to manage productive projects that expand the labour relations in the community and in communities that belong to the Salinas parish. However, in these organisations, a high percentage of men can be seen in administrative and managerial positions, while women carry out manufacturing activities (handicrafts, textiles, sweets), agriculture and household chores.

The Labour Participation of Women is a fundamental tool from which it is possible to achieve Gender Equality in the tourism labour field of Salinas de Guaranda, since it breaks with the idea of machismo, gender roles and stereotypes and inserts women in the occupation of managerial or executive positions with better remuneration, thus promoting female empowerment, access to financial freedom and the improvement in the quality of life of the Salinas women.

Conflicts of Interest: the authors have no conflict of interests to declare.

Информация о конфликте интересов: авторы не имеют конфликта интересов для декларации.