Community-based tourism for sustainability: The entrepreneurial skills of the rural women in Southern Africa G Makandwa orcid.org/0000-0002-2480-9504 Thesis accepted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Tourism Management at the North-West University Promoter: Dr S de Klerk Co-Promoter: Prof A Saayman Graduation: August 2021 Student number: 29616557 DECLARATION I, GODFREY MAKANDWA, Student Number 29616557, do hereby declare that this thesis entitled, Sustainable community-based tourism: The entrepreneurial skills of the rural women in Southern Africa is my own unaided work and all sources used and quoted have been accurately reported and acknowledged by means of complete references. It has not been submitted before for any degree or examination in part or its entirety by me or any other person at this, or any other institution. G. Makandwa Signature Date: November 2020 i DEDICATION To my grandmother, Sarah Sauro ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am greatly indebted to the following people whose contributions and support have been invaluable: Dr. Saskia de Klerk and Prof. Andrea Saayman, my supervisors, for their unconditional support and intellectual guidance All the female entrepreneurs who participated in the study for allowing me into their lives, answering my many inquisitive questions and providing me with insights into their experiences Mr Elmon Chauke and Miss Melody Luvombo, my research assistants, for the intricate explanations about the Shangani culture, working with me during the fieldwork inspite of your pressing commitments, and the time we spent together was invaluable Chief Sengwe, Chief Makuleke and the community members, for showing me around the communities, making my stay and fieldwork enjoyable, and for the intricate interactions that enriched my life and academic background Tackson, Stan, Rumbidzai, Mercy and Yeukai, my friends, for their unrelenting support throughout the studies Rangarirai and Flora, my parents, for the encouragement and support Raramai, Nokutenda and Manatsa, my family, for the sacrifices and patience during the writing process, and support inspite of all the time I spent away Wellington, Washington, Aleck, Kudzai and Laiza, my siblings, for the encouragement and support I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to institutions that facilitated my research; among these are North-West University, Makuleke Community Property Association and Chiredzi Rural District Council. iii ABSTRACT This study identified the entrepreneurship skills of the female entrepreneurs involved in community-based cultural tourism ventures in Southern Africa by examining their experiences in the development of the ventures. It argues that entrepreneurship skills influence the performance of community-based cultural tourism ventures and rural women‘s perspectives have been sidelined despite their experiences and active participation in rural tourism entrepreneurship. In Southern Africa, the focus has been on nature-based CBT with more emphasis on conservation and human-wildlife conflicts. The research was conducted in the Sengwe (Zimbabwe) and Makuleke (South Africa) communities between January and April 2019. These communities were chosen because of their proximity to national parks, involvement in the GLTP and availability of cultural tourism resources in their locality. A total of twenty-one research participants were chosen for the study using purposive and snowballing techniques. The data was gathered using semi-structured interviews, participant observations and informal conversations. The evidence from the study revealed that the dominant community-based cultural tourism ventures in the case communities were food operations, crafts and spiritual tourism. Most of these ventures were established between 1998 and 2002, are micro, owner-managed and employ not more than five people. The research into the female entrepreneurs‘ experiences has allowed for a better understanding of how the entrepreneurs develop their tourism products and services, interact with the tourists and other community members and balance the entrepreneurship tasks with household tasks and economic activities. Personal entrepreneurship skills and technical skills are the dominant entrepreneurship skills possessed by the female entrepreneurs involved in community-based cultural tourism entrepreneurship. These skills were largely shaped by local knowledge systems and participants‘ own experiences. The participants‘ narratives led the researcher to conclude that they lack management skills and these can be improved through conducting training and workshops. This thesis also contributes to the CBT literature by articulating possible ways in which community-based cultural tourism ventures influence household livelihoods and rural economies when aggregated. The recommendations cited in this study are meant to capacitate the female entrepreneurs involved in community-based cultural tourism entrepreneurship to improve venture performance and ensure that they derive meaningful benefits sustainably. Future research could focus on the tourists‘ perceptions and expectations of the quality of the tourism products and services offered in the case communities for the female entrepreneurs to tailor-make their offerings. Key terms: Sengwe, Makuleke, female entrepreneur, community-based cultural tourism, rural tourism entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship skills, rural livelihoods, cultural tourism iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ......................................................................................................................... I DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................ II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ III ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. IV Key terms: iv CHAPTER 1 .............................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Background of the Study ................................................................................. 2 1.3 Problem statement ........................................................................................... 5 1.4 Goals and Objectives ....................................................................................... 6 1.4.1 Goal .................................................................................................................... 6 1.4.2 Objectives ........................................................................................................... 6 1.5 Envisaged Contribution ................................................................................... 6 1.5.1 Literature contribution ......................................................................................... 6 1.5.2 Methodological contributions .............................................................................. 8 1.5.3 Practical contribution .......................................................................................... 8 1.6 Research Design .............................................................................................. 9 1.7 Methods of Research ..................................................................................... 10 1.7.1 Literature study ................................................................................................. 10 1.7.2 Context of the research .................................................................................... 11 1.7.3 Qualitative methods .......................................................................................... 12 1.8 Defining Concepts .......................................................................................... 13 1.9 Chapter Classification .................................................................................... 13 v 1.10 Chapter Summary ........................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 2: ENTREPRENEURSHIP .................................................................................... 15 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 15 2.2 Rural Entrepreneurship .................................................................................. 15 2.2.1 The geographic context .................................................................................... 16 2.2.2 The number of individuals involved ................................................................... 17 2.2.3 The aim of the entrepreneurial activity .............................................................. 18 2.3 Elements of entrepreneurship ....................................................................... 20 2.3.1 Process ............................................................................................................ 20 2.3.1.1 Human capital................................................................................................... 21 2.3.1.1.1 Education ......................................................................................................... 22 2.3.1.1.2 Personality ........................................................................................................ 23 2.3.1.1.3 Risk Taking ....................................................................................................... 24 2.3.1.1.4 Innovation and creativity ................................................................................... 25 2.3.1.1.5 Time management, goal setting and commitment ............................................. 25 2.3.1.2 Social Capital ................................................................................................... 27 2.3.2 Marketing and market size ................................................................................ 29 2.3.3 Context ............................................................................................................. 30 2.3.3.1 Socio-cultural context ....................................................................................... 30 2.3.3.2 Gender ............................................................................................................. 31 2.3.3.3 Spatial context .................................................................................................. 33 2.3.3.4 Institutional and economic aspects ................................................................... 34 vi 2.4 Gendered economic rural livelihoods ........................................................... 35 2.4.1 Rural tourism as a livelihood strategy ............................................................... 36 2.4.1.1 Application of the sustainable livelihood framework .......................................... 37 2.5 Chapter summary ........................................................................................... 38 CHAPTER 3: COMMUNITY BASED TOURISM ..................................................................... 39 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 39 3.2 Community Based Tourism – definition ....................................................... 39 3.3 Characteristics of CBT ................................................................................... 40 3.3.1 Net socio-economic benefits ............................................................................. 40 3.3.2 Community ownership and participation ........................................................... 44 3.3.3 Communal resources ........................................................................................ 45 3.3.4 Collaborative approach ..................................................................................... 46 3.3.5 Reciprocity ........................................................................................................ 47 3.4 Approaches to community-based tourism ................................................... 48 3.4.1 Bottom-up participatory approach ..................................................................... 48 3.4.2 Co-management ............................................................................................... 49 3.4.2.1 Passive Participation ........................................................................................ 49 3.4.2.2 Interactive Participation .................................................................................... 50 3.5 Stakeholder analysis ...................................................................................... 51 3.5.1 Government ...................................................................................................... 51 3.5.2 NGOs ............................................................................................................... 52 3.5.3 Community ....................................................................................................... 53 vii 3.5.3.1 The host ........................................................................................................... 54 3.5.3.2 The entrepreneur .............................................................................................. 55 3.5.4 The Market ....................................................................................................... 55 3.5.5 The tourist ........................................................................................................ 56 3.6 State of CBT in Southern Africa .................................................................... 57 3.6.1 Development .................................................................................................... 57 3.6.2 Governance ...................................................................................................... 58 3.7 Chapter summary ........................................................................................... 59 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................. 62 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 62 4.2 Research design ............................................................................................. 62 4.3 Case Setting .................................................................................................... 63 4.4 Methods of research ....................................................................................... 65 4.4.1 Qualitative Research ........................................................................................ 65 4.4.2 Pilot study ......................................................................................................... 66 4.5 Research Participants .................................................................................... 67 4.6 Recruitment of Participants ........................................................................... 67 4.7 Research instruments .................................................................................... 69 4.7.1 Semi-structured Interviews ............................................................................... 69 4.7.2 Participant Observation .................................................................................... 72 4.7.3 Informal conversations ...................................................................................... 73 4.8 Reliability and validity .................................................................................... 73 viii 4.9 Methodological reflections ............................................................................ 74 4.9.1 Gaining access ................................................................................................. 75 4.9.2 Primary data collection process ........................................................................ 75 4.9.3 Timing of the research study ............................................................................. 76 4.9.4 Positionality ...................................................................................................... 76 4.9.5 Difficulties encountered during field research ................................................... 77 4.10 Data Analysis .................................................................................................. 78 4.11 Ethical Considerations ................................................................................... 81 4.12 Chapter summary and structure of research finding presentation ............. 82 CHAPTER 5: RESEARCH CONTEXT .................................................................................... 84 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 84 5.2 Geographic context ........................................................................................ 84 5.3 Political Context ............................................................................................. 86 5.4 Social context ................................................................................................. 91 5.4.1 Culture .............................................................................................................. 91 5.4.2 Social infrastructure .......................................................................................... 94 5.5 Economic context ........................................................................................... 96 5.6 Situating the research .................................................................................. 100 5.6.1 Response rate ................................................................................................ 100 5.6.2 Participants‘ socio-economic characteristics ................................................... 101 5.6.2.1 Age ................................................................................................................. 102 5.6.2.2 Civil status ...................................................................................................... 104 ix 5.6.2.3 Education ....................................................................................................... 105 5.6.2.4 Household size ............................................................................................... 106 5.6.3 Characteristics of CBCTV ............................................................................... 106 5.6.4 Research themes ........................................................................................... 108 5.7 Chapter summary ......................................................................................... 109 CHAPTER 6: RURAL TOURISM WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS’ EXPERIENCES ................ 111 6.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 111 6.2 Rural women’s experiences ......................................................................... 111 6.2.1 Nature of tourism entrepreneurial activities ..................................................... 111 6.2.1.1 Craft village tourism ........................................................................................ 113 6.2.1.2 Food tourism .................................................................................................. 116 6.2.1.3 Spiritual tourism .............................................................................................. 119 6.3 The participants’ experiences relating to entrepreneurial work-life harmony ........................................................................................................ 120 6.4 Chapter summary ......................................................................................... 122 CHAPTER 7: RURAL WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS ........................................ 124 7.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 124 7.2 Identifying the participants’ entrepreneurial skills ..................................... 124 7.2.1 The skills for overall business planning and goal setting ................................. 125 7.2.1.1 Planning ......................................................................................................... 126 7.2.1.2 Leading........................................................................................................... 126 7.2.1.3 Organising ...................................................................................................... 127 7.2.2 Identifying opportunities as a skill ................................................................... 127 x 7.2.3 The skills of identifying market needs and product development .................... 129 7.2.3.1 Market development ....................................................................................... 129 7.2.3.2 Product development ...................................................................................... 133 7.2.4 Communication skills ...................................................................................... 135 7.3 Tourism entrepreneurial skills and sustainability ...................................... 137 7.3.1 Entrepreneur and resource use ...................................................................... 138 7.3.2 Fair trade ........................................................................................................ 138 7.3.3 Meeting the needs of the future generation ..................................................... 139 7.4 Entrepreneurial skills acquisition and development processes ............... 140 7.4.1 Education ....................................................................................................... 140 7.4.2 Creativity and innovation ................................................................................ 141 7.4.3 Tacit processes .............................................................................................. 142 7.5 Chapter summary ......................................................................................... 143 CHAPTER 8: CBTE AS A LIVELIHOOD STRATEGY .......................................................... 146 8.1 An overview .................................................................................................. 146 8.2 CBCTV and household assets ..................................................................... 146 8.3 CBCTV and household activities ................................................................. 150 8.4 CBCTV and community life .......................................................................... 150 8.5 Chapter summary ......................................................................................... 159 CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................... 160 9.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 160 9.2 Summary of the research findings .............................................................. 160 xi 9.2.1 CBCTV in Southern Africa .............................................................................. 160 9.2.2 The development of the entrepreneurial skills ................................................. 163 9.2.3 CBCTV as a livelihood strategy ...................................................................... 163 9.3 Contributions to the study and implications .............................................. 165 9.3.1 Methodological contributions .......................................................................... 166 9.3.2 Theoretical contributions ................................................................................. 167 9.4 Recommendations........................................................................................ 170 9.5 Limitations of the study ............................................................................... 172 9.6 Future research ............................................................................................ 174 9.7 Chapter summary ......................................................................................... 174 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 175 ANNEXURES ........................................................................................................................ 211 xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS CAMPFIRE Communal Areas Management Programme For Indigenous Resources CBNRM Community-based Natural Resources Management CBT Community-based Tourism CBCTV Community-based Cultural Tourism Ventures CBTE Community-based Tourism Enterprise CRDC Chiredzi Rural District Council GDP Gross Domestic Product GLTP Great Limpopo Trans-frontier Park GNP Gonarezhou National Park JMB Joint management Board JMC Joint Management Committee KNP Kruger National Park MCC Makuleke Cultural Centre MCP Makuleke Contractual Park MCPA Makuleke Community Property Association MDF Makuleke Development Fund MDT Makuleke Development Trust MNC Multinational Corporations NGO Non-governmental Organisation SEVACA Sesithule Vamanani Caring Association SLF Sustainable Livelihood Framework xiii SANP South African National Parks WINDFALL Wildlife New Industries for All ZINWA Zimbabwe National Water Authority xiv LIST OF TABLES Table 3-1: The socio-economic benefits of CBT ............................................................ 41 Table 4-1: The research‘s target population .................................................................. 68 Table 5-1: Profile of the research participants ............................................................. 101 Table 5-2: Summary of the emerging research themes ............................................... 109 Table 7-1: Summary of the participants‘ entrepreneurship skills .................................. 144 Table 8-1: Aggregate entrepreneur earnings between Dec 2018 & March 2019 ......... 147 Table 8-2: Cumulative per capita income earnings from Dec 2018-Mar 2019 ............. 148 xv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3-1: Context of women entrepreneurs within the rural economy .......................... 60 Figure 5-1: Map depicting the location of Sengwe and Makuleke communities ............. 84 Figure 5-2: Political boundaries of the Sengwe community ........................................... 87 Figure 5-3: Administrative map of the Makuleke community .......................................... 89 Figure 5-4: The VaTsonga women‘s dressing style ....................................................... 92 Figure 5-5: A photograph depicting dancing attire ......................................................... 93 Figure 5-6: A banana plantation in the Makuleke community ........................................ 97 Figure 5-7: Trends in the establishment of CBCTV ..................................................... 107 Figure 6-1: CBCTV in the case communities ................................................................ 112 Figure 6-2: Sample of crafts produced by the participants ............................................ 114 Figure 6-3: Makuleke GG entertains tourists at the amphitheatre ................................. 116 Figure 6-4: A food serving area in Sengwe and structure of a traditional kitchen ......... 118 Figure 6-5: Food presentation ...................................................................................... 119 Figure 7-1: Craftpreneurs selling their wares at the MCC ............................................. 132 Figure 7-2: Tourist handbags ....................................................................................... 134 Figure 7-3: Participants‘ records of meat orders ........................................................... 136 Figure 7-4: Poor record keeping ................................................................................... 137 Figure 8-1: Design of the MCC ..................................................................................... 153 Figure 8-2: Beadwork display at the MCC .................................................................... 154 Figure 8-3: Food preparation in the Makuleke community ............................................ 155 Figure 9-1: The recoiling spiral depicting rural women‘s experiences in CBCTV .......... 164 xvi LIST OF ANNEXURES Annexure I: Semi-structured interview guide (English) .................................................. 210 Annexure II: Verbal consent form for the participants ..................................................... 213 Annexure III: Tape recording consent form ..................................................................... 214 Annexure IV: Information sheet for the participants ......................................................... 215 Annexure V: Information sheet for the local leaders........................................................ 216 Annexure VI: University ethics clearance ......................................................................... 217 Annexure VII: Sengwe community research approval ....................................................... 218 Annexure VIII: Makuleke community research approval .................................................... 219 Annexure IX: Language editing certificate ....................................................................... 220 Annexure X: Similarity report .......................................................................................... 221 Annexure XI: Semi-structured interview guide (Shangaan) .............................................. 222 xvii CHAPTER 1 1.1 Introduction Rural entrepreneurship, a division of entrepreneurship literature is defined as establishing industries in rural areas and ensuring value addition to rural resources in rural areas using local human capital (Ahuja, 2012). Lientz (2015) views rural entrepreneurship as a viable strategy to stimulate economic activity in rural areas. In Southern Africa, the notion of rural entrepreneurship has gained both policy and financial support from government and non- governmental organisations (NGOs) (Phungwayo & Mogashoa, 2014) as a way to uplift rural livelihoods, sustain natural resources and offer alternative sources of income. Rural entrepreneurship support has been noticeable in the agricultural sector but the focus has shifted towards community-based tourism enterprise (CBTE) due to the insufficiency of agricultural livelihoods (Holland et al., 2003) and the need for rural regeneration through diversified sources of income and search of economic opportunity (McGehee et al., 2007). Pizzati and Funck (2002) indicate that the growth for rural women‘s entrepreneurship is critical for enhancing household livelihood and rural economic development. In 2016, women constituted seventy percent in Zimbabwe and sixty percent of rural population in South Africa (Tshabalala & Ezeuduji, 2016). As such, rural women represent a potential labour force that, when equipped as entrepreneurs, will result in a decrease in low-income households and resultantly poverty (Smith-Hunter & Leone, 2010). The elements of rural tourism entrepreneurship include natural, financial, human and social capital (Hultman & Hill, 2011). Cracolici and Nijkamp (2009) explain that the natural resources of a destination constitute only a comparative advantage and are not a sufficient condition for that particular area to be competitive. The ability of the community to fully utilise the communal tourism resources in their locality is largely dependent on the entrepreneurial skills (human and social capital) of the locals. The entrepreneurial skills determine resource use and economic utilisation of both the natural and financial resources (Jóhannesson & Lund, 2017) and this research focuses on the entrepreneurial skills of rural women involved in community-based cultural tourism ventures (CBCTV). Both the actual and potential skills are noted through an analysis of the experiences, perceptions and knowledge of rural women involved in CBCTV in Southern Africa and how they contribute to rural livelihoods. There is a gap in relation to the extent to which rural women have the required skills to build, sustain and make use of the social networks to enhance their tourism initiatives. In addition, this research seeks to bring to the understanding that communities are heterogeneous, and as 1 such, family ties for example, influence the development of the entrepreneurial skills and capacities of rural women involved in CBCTV in a different way. Previous research has looked in detail at the way that social networks relate to performance characteristics (Rooks et al., 2016) and conditions under which entrepreneurs gain access to resources (Barrow et al., 2000). This research looks at the ability of rural women to sustain tourism enterprises, add benefit to their rural economic activities and contribute towards their household livelihoods. This research highlights the skills of rural women and their abilities to sustain their CBTE initiatives. CBTE relates to a business that is located within a communal land and owned or managed by one or more community members geared to the supply of tourist services for the benefit of the community (Zapata et al., 2011). From this definition, it can be noted that CBTE seeks to enhance social wealth and/or serves as a development agent aimed at uplifting the status of rural women and reducing rural poverty (Spenceley, 2008). This research thus contributes to the entrepreneurial development of rural women involved in CBCTV. Most researchers in Southern Africa have analysed the impact of CBTE at the community level (Chiutsi & Mudzengi, 2012; Chiutsi & Saarinen, 2017; McGehee et al., 2007; Spenceley, 2008; Wolmer et al., 2003). However, there is need to understand the entrepreneurial dynamics at the household level as this enhances direct economic benefits to the specific individuals involved. In this case, having analysed the existing skills of rural women, one will be able to assess if they are fully using their potential while, at the same time, highlighting their knowledge deficiencies and the challenges they are facing. 1.2 Background of the Study The entrepreneurial actions of rural women make it possible for rural world to reinvent itself and to better the household socio-economic conditions (Pato & Teixeira, 2016). Women constitute a significant proportion of labour for household consumption and/or enterprise (Stotsky, 2006) and their resourcefulness, or lack thereof, has a bearing on their household income. The fact that their achievements are against a backdrop of an array of challenges makes this research worthy as it will enhance rural livelihoods and further identify entrepreneurial opportunities that can be further exploited by rural women. According to Chiappe and Flora (1998), women are motivated to pursue tourism enterprises to complement agricultural income and to provide themselves with some autonomy and independence since they will work from and/or close to their homes (Pato & Teixeira, 2016). Chiutsi and Saarinen (2017) assert that women pursue tourism enterprise as a way to contribute to their communities. Women participate in the traditional ceremonies and dances though there are no meaningful financial benefits that are derived from the initiative and such activities have been sustained by the need and/or desire to contribute to their own communities. Osman and Bakar (2014) conclude that women participate in such community 2 activities as they value the social benefits as part of the community and family gains and not for themselves. This research highlights the actual skills possessed by these rural women and their impact on household livelihoods. Rural women involved in CBTE face the same problems as other women involved in other economic activities such as mining and agriculture. Such problems include lack of finance, cultural barriers, and societal norms and the problems are widely acknowledged (Pharm & Sritharan, 2013). This has resulted in educational and training programmes specifically for rural women being implemented by institutions such as African Women Development and Communications Network and Dutch Foundations which operate in East Africa (Raney et al., 2011). The same cannot be said for rural women involved in tourism ventures. These rural women have been able to sustain their tourism initiatives despite lack of support from external agencies. In light of the lack of support to rural women involved in rural tourism entrepreneurship initiatives; the successes and sustenance of the tourism enterprises (both formal and informal) is a result of the skills and capabilities with which rural women are endowed (Mutalib et al., 2015). This research seeks to highlight the entrepreneurial skills that have enabled rural women to sustain their tourism initiatives with a view to further enhancing their capabilities and competitiveness in a globalised touristic market. The research brings to the understanding the entrepreneurial elements (human and social capital) that have enabled rural women to initiate and sustain tourism enterprises as they seek to achieve both economic and non-economic gains (Shepherd & Patzelt, 2011). In addition to these challenges, they are also faced with difficulties in marketing their tourism products due to unique tourism product characteristics that include perishability and intangibility. This further constrains their ability to fully utilise tourism resources. Perishability asserts that once the tourism product has been made it cannot be stored for future resale and the intangibility asserts that the tourism product cannot be touched (Kotler & Keller, 2006). That is, a game drive for example, is intangible and a sale not made today cannot be stored and be resold tomorrow. The nature of the tourism products and the fact that it is perishable increases the risks involved. How to manage the production of these products and to be able to forecast sales and demand become essential skills to ensure sustainability of the business. Much of the research relating to CBTE in Southern Africa has centred upon institutional frameworks (Mombeshora & Le Bel, 2009), value contribution (Spenceley, 2008) and resolving people-wildlife conflicts (Bond et al., 2004). In the first instance, the implementation of CBTE is viewed in the context of the community against the government and NGOs. That is the degree to which communities are involved from the planning stage to the rewards benefits of the CBTE, and this overlooks entrepreneurship efforts of community members. Jóhannesson and Lund 3 (2017) however, note that entrepreneurship is an individualised and economic pursuit and CBTE is no exception. This research appreciates the heterogeneity of communities on the basis of gender and the analysis dwells on the skills of rural women (who occupy sixty percent of own account work in Southern Africa) who have managed to sustain culturally-based tourism ventures in Southern Africa specifically in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Furthermore, institutional arrangements in the form of decentralisation have enabled local communities to actively contribute to their local economies (Bond et al., 2004). In this respect, communities that are involved in community-based tourism (CBT) initiatives have committees that are involved in the day to day running of the initiatives (Chiutsi & Saarinen, 2017). The Communal Management Programme For Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) Zimbabwe, for example, was developed largely around the concept of managing wildlife and wildlife habitat in the communal lands of Zimbabwe for the benefit of the people living in these areas (Frost & Bond, 2008). It must be noted that the existing literature (Child, 2004; Chiutsi & Saarinen, 2017; Spenceley, 2008) fails to take note of the gender differences within a community and how this influences individual performance. More so, the idea sums up the community as whole rather than individual differences. In this instance, this research outlines the entrepreneurial skills of rural women (individually and in groups) with the view to enhancing the same, since an increase in income per household will result in an increase in aggregate income for rural communities. In addition, Ahuja (2012) highlights that within a community, women are constrained to achieve the same as their male counterparts due to the added burden of household duties placed on them and societal norms that expect women to behave in a certain way. This research unearths the entrepreneurial skills of rural women involved in CBCTV through an analysis of the experiences, perception, knowledge and challenges faced by rural women in pursuance to sustain their household livelihoods. Much of the research on CBT has also examined the value of tourism resources outside protected areas, providing an opportunity to enhance rural livelihoods (Koster, 2008) and there is detailed research on the contributions of CBT towards employment (Reid, 2003). The general assumption is that communities are homogenous and there is a common pool of resources. In reality, communities are composed of different groups and in a patriarchal society, particularly in Southern Africa, the male views are dominant (Tshabalala & Ezeuduji, 2016). Thus, the abilities and potential of rural women in contributing towards the rural economies are overlooked. It is therefore critical to probe entrepreneurship in CBT in general and women‘s entrepreneurship, in particular, bringing to the fore the existing entrepreneurial skills of rural women. This helps in sustaining indigenous knowledge systems whilst, at the same time, making use of technological advancements to drive rural economies through CBCTV. This research enables the 4 understanding of how personality, experience, education, and training (human capital) and social networks, family ties, and structure (social capital) impact the ability of rural women to contribute to household livelihoods through CBCTV. 1.3 Problem statement Rural women, particularly in South Africa and Zimbabwe, are the main victims of poverty and other social ills (social injustices, lack of access to education and health services), while their participation in rural economy has remained elusive. Despite these challenges, rural women have been involved in running tourism initiatives within their communities (Spenceley, 2008). Although there is a growing causal relationship between entrepreneurship, rural economic growth and poverty reduction (Syed & Xavier, 2012), the assessment of CBTE particularly in Southern Africa has been at community level and revolved around the utilisation of natural resources (Chiutsi & Mudzengi, 2012; Spenceley, 2008). The perception is that an analysis of CBTE at community level results in a generalised understanding of rural women and entrepreneurship. Hence it is unable to give a dynamic understanding of their potential. It is widely acknowledged that rural communities in Southern Africa are rich in tourism resources (Child, 2004; Chiutsi & Mudzengi, 2012; Spenceley, 2008). However, research relating to efficient and effective utilisation of cultural tourism resources to aid rural economies has been lacking. This research seeks to ascertain the entrepreneurial skills of rural women involved in CBCTV in Southern Africa to fully utilise the tourism resources in their locality. The entrepreneurial skills are explored through assessing rural women‘s experiences, perceptions and knowledge relating to their CBCTV. NGOs, government agencies, and financial institutions in Southern Africa have provided opportunities to ensure rural women‘s participation in their respective economies (Chiutsi & Mudzengi, 2012; Hlengwa & Maruta, 2019). Nonetheless, such assistance has been inclined to agriculture (Mulindwa, 2015); overlooking the fact that utilisation of tourism resources provides alternatives and rural communities can complement their agricultural earnings (Ahebwa & Van del Duim, 2013; Wolmer et al., 2003). Women constitute the majority of the population in rural economies (because men leave to go and work in urban areas) and represent the human capital, which among other entrepreneurial elements can be used to enhance household livelihoods (Zapata et al., 2011). From this perspective, the research question is ―How do rural women‘s entrepreneurial skills enable them to initiate, sustain and utilise tourism resources to enhance household livelihoods?‖ In trying to identify the various forms of human and social capital among rural women, the research also brings to the fore the motivations that drive rural women to pursue CBCTV, their experiences and the challenges they face. 5 1.4 Goals and Objectives 1.4.1 Goal The goal of the study is to advance the understanding of rural women‘s entrepreneurial skills from their own narratives and the way that tourism experiences, perceptions and knowledge influence economic use of cultural tourism resources. The research objectives below assist in achieving the goal of this research. 1.4.2 Objectives Based on the problem statement and goal of the study, the following objectives are formulated:  To identify the various entrepreneurial skills of rural women involved in CBCTV  To investigate the various ways in which rural women participate in CBCTV and their contribution to the household per capita in the case communities  To identify the ways in which rural women have acquired skills to build, sustain and utilise culturally-based communal tourism resources  To determine the extent to which rural women‘s CBCTV enhance household livelihoods The research objectives encourage a focus on the main research goal by effectively breaking it down into small elements. These objectives guided the development of the research questions that were used to collect data in this research (Annexure I). 1.5 Envisaged Contribution It is imperative to indicate how this research aims to add both from the literary and methodological perspectives. The following pinpoints how this research relates to existing literature, and/or fills existing research gaps. 1.5.1 Literature contribution The motivation for this research stems from the concern that although knowledge has been developing continuously within the field of CBT, and sound knowledge now exists on how CBT can impact household livelihoods, there remains an extremely high prevalence of social ills such as poverty (Spenceley, 2008). Although it is a fact that communities in Southern Africa are endowed with tourism resources that can enhance their household livelihoods, the communities remain very poor (Manwa et al., 2016). Through exploring the experiences of rural women involved in CBCTV, this research highlights rural women‘s entrepreneurial skills, not only adding 6 to the scant literature on this subject, but also in determining what needs to be done in terms of the capacitation of the human capital and developing the social networks to enhance rural livelihood. The new dispensation involving communities in managing tourism resources has been met with zeal and enthusiasm among tourists and conservationists alike. Little research has been done on the management abilities of rural women and how such involvement impacts the socio- economic strata of the host communities (Ahuja, 2012). The role played by rural women in sustaining tourism resources from time immemorial cannot be underestimated and their ability to withstand the difficulties they face makes this research worth undertaking. Rural women, though they remain disadvantaged; eighty-six percent actively contribute to rural economies in Southern Africa (Ezeuduji, 2015). While opportunities are created for men to flourish in managing and sustaining tourism businesses, the same cannot be said for their female counterparts in rural communities endowed with tourism resources (Stotsky, 2006). Information relating to the existing tourism enterprises run by women in communities surrounding the Great Limpopo Trans-frontier Park (GLTP) and their past and current performance is detailed in this study. This adds to the existing body of literature relating to CBTE in Southern Africa. From this perspective, this research has a historical idealisation of the nature of micro enterprises undertaken by rural women surrounding the GLTP and how they have been able to sustain such tourism ventures. That rural women have been actively involved in managing and sustaining tourism resources and research on CBT initiatives has been broadly categorised, hence research that highlights the impact of gender differences is a worthy undertaking. This research puts into perspective the monetary contributions of the various culturally-based tourism activities in which rural women are involved and explores ways to enhance the contributions of the women. This complements the existing literature which generalises communities and also concentrates more on benefits and challenges faced by communities as a whole (Foley et al., 2018; Frost & Bond, 2008). Arzjani and Rahiminezhad (2011) note that whilst there is rich literature on women and development, the literature on rural women and tourism is limited. This research contributes to the existing spatial body of knowledge concerning women‘s entrepreneurship in rural areas. This research adds another dimension of analysing CBTE. Instead of emphasising the challenges and opportunities, the research highlights how gender affects CBTE and the utilisation of culturally-based tourism resources for economic gain at household level. 7 1.5.2 Methodological contributions This study draws on the findings from the Sengwe (Zimbabwe) and Makuleke (South Africa) communities to reveal the entrepreneurial skills utilised in the development of CBCTV. This is achieved by examining the experiences, perceptions and knowledge of rural women entrepreneurs in the establishment and development of their ventures. The selection of the VaTsonga women as participants in this study brings to the fore their tourism experiences and that of other ethnic minorities that border protected areas, in the adoption of tourism as a livelihood strategy and subsequent exploitation of cultural resources. The adoption of a constructivist paradigm facilitated the acknowledgement of the different forms of culturally- based tourism ventures and the multiple entrepreneurial skills sets used in the development of these ventures. This research describes different forms of ventures that are managed by rural women entrepreneurs within the context of cultural tourism, as a result of the multiple meanings and different interpretations associated with cultural tourism. This research makes use of personal interviews to solicit the views of the participants and the data collected are analysed using narratives. The use of narratives makes this research a novelty as it captures the voice of the marginalised rural women and detailed knowledge and skills key in sustaining CBCTV. Rural women entrepreneurs‘ narratives and interpretation of their own experiences is crucial in providing deep insights about local knowledge and local systems that shape the entrepreneurship skills. As such, the active participation of rural women entrepreneurs helps to unearth the different meanings attached to nature and community behaviour, and a historical perspective that informs the motives and scope of the development of CBCTV (Tavuyanago, 2016). While the participant interviews privileged rural women entrepreneurs to provide their interpretations of the entrepreneurial skills, the participant observations gave insights of the entrepreneurship process and the context in which the venture activities are embedded in (Rossman & Rallis, 2012) 1.5.3 Practical contribution The success of CBT has been measured against reduced human-wildlife conflict and reduced habitat and/or species loss (Humavindu & Stage, 2015). As such the need to gain insights into the contribution of cultural tourism resources in alleviating poverty and enhancing economic development form the basis of this study. Chirozva (2016) highlights that tourism is perceived useful mainly at national level, thus the need to understand the contributions made by rural women towards local economies with the view to capacitate them and ensure that they gain benefits from their ventures. The appreciation of the success stories of rural women involved in 8 CBCTV helps in the formulation of policies by national tourism organisations that seek to enhance the abilities and skills of rural women. The study is of significance to various stakeholders. It helps rural women in determining the type of tourism businesses in which they can indulge profitably. In this instance, the research determines the skills set of rural women and what can be done to fully utilise the skills set of rural women to enhance rural livelihoods. Scoones (2009) and Bond et al. (2004) provide important entry points to the understanding of rural economies and the contribution of tourism to the overall livelihoods of communities surrounding the Great Limpopo Trans-frontier Park (GLTP). Acknowledgments of the gender differences and the contributions they have made regarding improving the socio-economic benefits derived from managing tourism resources is the key focus of this research. Rural areas of Southern Africa are strikingly varied in terms of social and economic structure, geography and culture. In addition, rural women are not a homogenous group hence the economic and social challenges that rural areas are undergoing do not affect all women in the same way (Phungwayo & Mogashoa, 2014). For instance, the young girls might gain entrepreneurial knowledge through formal learning whilst the aged might have acquired their entrepreneurial skills through learning from their elders. From this perspective, this research helps to identify the factors that influence the scope of the entrepreneurial skills of rural women and thus communities will be able to formulate policies that support institutions that positively affect the learning and adoption of entrepreneurship skills by rural women. Johnson et al. (2015) note that skills can be learned and developed, and tourism entrepreneurial skills are no exception. The analysis of the entrepreneurial skills of rural women helps in determining how such skills are shaped and developed. This is important in ascertaining whether the current learning methods adopted by external agents and other community structures fully capacitate the participants. This research also helps in identifying skills deficits which helps in educational policy formulations specifically in the field of rural entrepreneurship. 1.6 Research Design The research makes use of qualitative approaches, drawing on the lived experiences of rural women entrepreneurs in selected case communities in Southern Africa (Chapter 5). Smith (2008) argues that the use of qualitative methods in collecting data provides a voice to the ordinary people, particularly those in deprived communities to air their views and perspectives which become the basis for knowledge production. As such, one of the main bases for qualitative research was to bring the neglected experiences and knowledge of rural women 9 involved in CBCTV to the academic research agenda. The qualitative approach allowed the researcher to keep on collecting these experiences over a period because it recognises that people are different and have unique experiences which are enriched or changed over time. This research was carried under the social constructivist paradigm; CBCTV as an alternative livelihood strategy is socially constructed (Goodson & Phillimore, 2004); everything is socially constructed and consists of multiple realities. The assumption is that within communities and having the same access to resources, the entrepreneurial skills of rural women will be varied in both scope and dimension and social factors will also influence their abilities. A better understanding of the social constructivist paradigm will be through adopting a relativist ontology and subjectivist epistemology. Relativist ontology asserts that there are multiple realities which are constructed in people‘s minds and co-exist (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011). This research highlights the entrepreneurial skills of rural women involved in CBT, and the way that these skills influence rural livelihoods and the different livelihood meanings (which differ from one person to another). The subjectivist epistemology alludes that knowledge is created by interactions between the interviewee and the researcher (Lincoln & Guba, 2000). It assumes that the subjective interaction enables the researcher to access realities which only exist in the minds of the participants. The researcher was also involved in the collection, reporting, and interpretation of data; imparting personal interpretations thereby creating constructivist data (Klotz & Lynch, 2007). While this research is not definitive, it represents a version of specific reality –the entrepreneurial skills of rural women in the selected communities (Chapter 5) within which the research was conducted. 1.7 Methods of Research The qualitative research approach adopted in this study entails an analysis of rural women‘s entrepreneurial skills over time (Berg & Lune, 2013). The study gathered data relating to rural women entrepreneurs‘ lived experiences, opinions and meanings attached to their entrepreneurial processes, and entrepreneurship outcomes. Both primary and secondary sources were instrumental in the collection of information relating to these entrepreneurship experiences and subsequent analysis of the research findings. 1.7.1 Literature study Literature review is an account of what has been published on the topic by accredited scholars and researchers (Taylor & Proctor, 2006). According to Best and Khan (2004), the literature review helps in defining and limiting the problem under study so that it becomes clearer and researchable whilst concurrently providing insight on what needs to be done based on 10 experiences of other initiatives. The researcher made use of journals, textbooks, and reports relevant to the subject under discussion. This helped in making the research problem clearer and facilitated the drawing of conclusions and making of recommendations. The researcher reviewed literature relating to rural entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial skills, rural women‘s entrepreneurship, rural livelihood strategies, cultural tourism and community-based tourism entrepreneurship. 1.7.2 Context of the research CBTE puts local communities at the centre of tourism product development, and Manyara and Jones (2007) assert that the involvement of the locals as entrepreneurs provides opportunities for economic diversification while leakages from the local economy are minimised. Giampiccoli and Mtapuri (2017) observe that CBTE provides communities with opportunities to participate and to make decisions in pursuit of conservation and development with benefits accruing to the community. These principles of ownership, management and benefits by and for the community, should be considered as the first and fundamental features in CBTE. The need to recognise that the communities are heterogeneous is the focal point of this research. The research considered the gender disparities inherent in communities and, specifically, details the present skills set of rural women involved and how the women‘s contribution impacts household livelihoods. The pro- poor tourism approaches that can be grouped into three are the foundations of which the CBTE can be advanced (Chiutsi & Mudzengi, 2012). Such approaches are as follows: • Increasing access to economic benefits,- for example through availing business and employment benefits, community training, as well as even distribution of income within a community • Addressing negative social and environmental impact of tourism,- for example, loss of land, culture commodification, and the demonstration effect • Focusing on community processes, policies and institutional frameworks (partnerships),- for example, policies to enhance women‘s participation in tourism planning processes and partnerships between community institutions and the private sector with rural women in developing new tourism products and/or sustaining existing ones (Chiutsi & Mudzengi, 2012; Scheyvens, 1999; Truong et al., 2020). From this perspective, Casson and Giusta (2007) conclude that entrepreneurship is a conscious action; individual and social aspects are crucial whilst the institutions and capital only aid entrepreneurship. The research took into consideration the individual talent and capabilities in utilising common pool resources. Thus, instead of the assumptions of reciprocal commitments and viewing communities as homogenous, the research unlocked individual talent and clearly 11 outlined the benefits derived from pursuing culturally-based tourism initiatives. Individuals can form groups when pursuing an initiative of interest out of their own will rather than as a rule imposed by traditional institutional governance bodies. That is, much of this research looks at CBCTV as an economic activity pursued by rural women to sustain their household livelihoods rather than as a fulfilment of community obligations. It is against this backdrop that this research specifically targeted rural women in tourism ventures in South Africa and Zimbabwe (Section 4.5) with the view to enhancing their capacities. In this instance, the researcher applied the CBTE and the entrepreneurship elements. The utilisation of the common pool resources as tourism resources was not analysed singly but rather the opportunity costs forgone are highlighted. This illustrates that the communities are faced with scarce resources and have to choose among competing uses on how they utilise the resources at their disposal to enhance their livelihoods. Often the links between the economic actions such as agriculture, tourism attractions and/or economic support activities are highlighted. For the purposes of this research, the resource skill of the community in total is ignored in favour of an analysis focusing specifically on rural women‘s expertise in CBCTV and the resultant impact on poverty alleviation. This unearths the impact of power differences as a result of gender on economic contributions of the two sexes. Despite the challenges faced by rural women, they have shown resilience in other economic spheres such as agriculture. As a result, this research assumes that rural women involved in tourism can succeed in developing and managing tourism businesses in their locality. The study is qualitative in nature because rural women‘s experiences and the resultant entrepreneurial skills are subjective and the interpretations of the narratives and conclusions involve human intuitions and judgements (Section 4.4.1). The research context has a gendered dimension and the focus is on rural women entrepreneurs (Section 4.6) involved in CBCTV. 1.7.3 Qualitative methods The researcher made use of qualitative methods to gather data that revealed the experiences, knowledge and perceptions of rural women entrepreneurs involved in cultural tourism. The use of qualitative methods was meant to gain an understanding of the entrepreurs‘ skills (actual/potential) through examining their experiences and perceptions of entrepreneurship activities. Although substantial research has been conducted in the case communities, the focus on rural women as entrepreneurs and cultural tourism as an economic activity has been overlooked. The research data was obtained through the triangulation of semi-structured interviews, participant observation and informal conservations (section 4.7). These qualitative methods were chosen guided by the need to gather reliable and valid data that pertain to 12 people‘s lives, entrepreneurial stories, opinions and historical entrepreneurship performances. Such data can only be obtained qualitatively due to the fact that entrepreneurship skills are innate, require one to observe entrepreneurs‘ behaviour, day-to-day interactions and entrepreneurship outcomes over a period, and cannot be quantified statistically. The culturally- based tourism activities are largely informal (section 5.6.3) and characterised by poor record keeping (section 7.2.4) which then makes the entrepreneurs themselves a source of data regarding their own entrepreneurship experiences and perceptions. The entrepreneurs‘ accounts of meaning in the form of quotes and photographs produced rich descriptive data in their own spoken words (Devos et al., 2005) enabling the researcher to capture different entrepreneurship experiences (chapter 7). The understanding of rural women‘s entrepreneurship experiences deliberately focused on the meanings of entrepreneurship information communicated rather than on statistical data. The research methods were appropriate in collecting data directly from rural women experiencing the entrepreneurship process, thus able to describe their entrepreneurship skills or lack thereof. The researcher‘s own descriptions and interpretations of the participants‘ entrepreneurship experiences complemented the data obtained from the participants‘ narratives. The researcher‘s interpretation of entrepreneurship activities was not only informed by literature but also being involved in the research process as a researcher and a tourist (section 4.9.4). 1.8 Defining Concepts Rural women tourism entrepreneurship- refers to entrepreneurship initiated by local women and emerging at village level specifically in tourism businesses and acts as a potent factor for economic development (Alonso & Trillo, 2014; Gidarakou, 2015). Rural tourism- is a form of tourism taking place in rural areas, providing employment and income to the local population, and offering holiday products to consumers (Bulatović & Rajović, 2017). Entrepreneurial skill- is the ability of an individual to exploit an idea and create an enterprise (large or small) not only for personal gain but also for social and developmental gain (Adesiji et al., 2018). Rural livelihoods- are the different ways of generating income and managing relationships pursued by rural people as a means of living (Scoones, 2009). 1.9 Chapter Classification The presentation of the thesis is organised into nine chapters and chapter 1 consists of the introduction to the research, background of the study and research objectives. The chapter also 13 stresses the statement of the problem and the contribution of the study, thus providing a comprehensive guide to the reasons for undertaking this research. The second and third chapters review the literature focusing on rural entrepreneurship and CBTE whilst identifying the research gaps that are filled by this study. Chapter 2 details rural area as the geographical area in which entrepreneurship takes place. It also explains the elements of entrepreneurship, gender and rural tourism entrepreneurship and rural tourism as a livelihood strategy. Chapter 3 specifically details the different forms of CBT, the socio-economic impacts of CBT and the stakeholders involved in CBT. It also provides an overview of the development of CBT in Southern Africa. Within this chapter, the researcher identifies the gaps in knowledge relating to CBT and how rural women strike a balance between tourism economic activities, other economic activities and productive work. Chapter 4 highlights the methodological aspects that were used to gather data relevant to the research. The description of the case communities and the reasons for adopting the case study approach are provided in this chapter. The chapter also explains the research instruments used to gather relevant data, how the fieldwork was conducted, the challenges encountered and the various ethical issues that the researcher considered. The research findings are presented in chapters 5, 6, 7 and 8. Chapter 5 provides the context (geographic and socio-economic) in which the study is situated and the demographic profiles of the participants. The subsequent chapters emanate from the thematic analysis of the data gathered using semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The themes are developed guided by the research objectives. The results from the empirical research are used to draw conclusions that are presented in chapter 9. The chapter also provides limitations of the research, recommendations and research gaps that can further be explored by future research projects. 1.10 Chapter Summary CBTE is an effective way of engaging the host community and previous studies have discussed tourism development in the case communities with reference to the interactions between the local community and the external agents (Maluleke, 2018; Shehab, 2011; Spenceley, 2008). The tourism ventures run independently by the locals have not been studied extensively. This chapter provided the research guides as indicated by the statement of the problem and the research objectives as an attempt to fill the research gap. The focus of the next chapter is on rural entrepreneurship to provide entry points in the analysis of rural women entrepreneurial skills and their economic contributions at household level. 14 CHAPTER 2: ENTREPRENEURSHIP 2.1 Introduction According to Taylor and Proctor (2006), a literature review is an account of what has been published on the topic by accredited scholars and researchers which incorporates surveying scholarly articles, books and conference proceedings. Best and Khan (2004) also note that literature reviews help in defining and limiting the problem under study so that it becomes clearer and researchable whilst concurrently providing insight on what needs to be done based on experiences of other initiatives. This research centres on appreciating the abilities and talents of local women entrepreneurs in the development of their own ventures which prompts the need to understand entrepreneurship in general. This chapter elaborates entrepreneurship as a spatial phenomenon (rurality) driven by the community (rural women as tourism stakeholders) and influenced by the community (through utilisation of cultural resources) for a gain (individual profit or community gain). The understanding of rural entrepreneurship is crucial in explaining culturally-based tourism as an economic activity and its influence on household livelihoods. In this chapter, the researcher defines rural entrepreneurship, outlines the elements of entrepreneurship, rural women and tourism entrepreneurship, motivations of rural women entrepreneurs and policies that influenced women‘s entrepreneurship. 2.2 Rural Entrepreneurship Given that this chapter is more concerned with rural tourism entrepreneurship, it is important to understand its meaning. Sheriff and Muffatto (2014) appreciate the fact that the definition of entrepreneurship is both intriguing and elusive. This is attributed to the involvement of scholars from varied disciplines that include sociology, economics, psychology and management in the understanding and study of the subject (Simpeh, 2011). From a management perspective, entrepreneurship is defined in relation to aspects of entrepreneurial behaviour; that is, what the entrepreneurs do (Lundstrom & Stevenson, 2005); as an organisational process (Gartner & Carter, 2003) and as a process that seeks to discover, evaluate and exploit localised resources (Hisrich et al., 2007). The sociological perspective defines entrepreneurship based on the impact on societal well-being and economic dynamics. Most notably, Lowery (2003) defines entrepreneurship as an economic system comprising entrepreneurs, governments and other legal and institutional arrangements, and this denotes that a number of stakeholders play different roles in the entrepreneurship process. The understanding of entrepreneurship, particularly from a rural context, is based on the narrative of subsistence and survival (Hunter, 2012). For the purposes of this research, a micro- 15 economic definition of entrepreneurship based on the management perspective will be adopted. Rural entrepreneurship is defined as the setting up of a business within a rural area and/or the value addition to rural resources mainly as a result of engaging rural human resources (Pato & Teixeira, 2016). Rural tourism entrepreneurship in particular refers to the undertaking of tourism activities in rural areas for the benefit of the host community (Jurdana et al., 2015). The notion of rurality is bordered on the dominant level of economic activity being agriculture, the demographic characteristics being low populated, and the area being demarcated as ‗rural‘ by the respective authorities. The tourism product is an amalgamation of various components (Cooper, 2008) and rural tourism enterprise consists of a composition of tourism products that include accommodation, catering, attractions, shops, and entertainment. Simply put, rural tourism entrepreneurship relates to the tourism activities pursued by an individual and/or a group of individuals within a rural set-up primarily aimed at supplying tourism goods and services at a profit and/or for social good. The definition of rural tourism entrepreneurship consists of the geographical context in which the tourism activity is undertaken (Dabson, 2001), the aim of the entrepreneurial activity (Austin et al., 2006) and the number of individuals involved in the entrepreneurial initiative (Yan & Sorenson, 2003). 2.2.1 The geographic context Rural entrepreneurship varies according to geography and industry (Meccheri & Pelloni, 2006). The entrepreneurs are defined by being operational within a rural context; that is, their business activities are confined within the geographical location of a given rural area. The tourism industry in particular provides more opportunities because they have lower start- up costs and they also produce a broader range of products and services that allow rural enterprises to find niche markets. Examples of the community-based tourism businesses that have lower start-up costs include village tour guiding, cultural dances, home stay and village safaris. Meccheri and Pelloni (2006) allude that the variations specifically within the tourism industry are a result of the growth of the tourism enterprises that are heavily dependent on the human capital and tourism resource base of the concerned rural area. For example, homestay activities are dominant in Malaysia‘s rural areas (Osman & Bakar, 2014) and nature-based CBT activities are dominant in Kenya (Manyara & Jones, 2007). This indicates that the competitiveness of a given destination relies on the endowment of unique tourism resources such as the culture and natural resources and the ability of the entrepreneurs to utilise the resources effectively and efficiently. All the same, the geographical viewpoint alludes that rural areas differ because of the distance away from an urban centre of the location concerned. Rural areas closer to an urban area and those at the periphery differ in terms of population density, proximity to markets, infrastructural development and level of dependence on agriculture (Pyysiäinen et al., 2006). Rural areas that 16 are centrally located generally have a higher population density when compared to those located in the periphery. Meccheri and Pelloni (2006) reveal that population density in the peripheral rural area is affected by uninhabitable conditions that include, for example, being mountainous. Such aspects as the terrain of the peripheral rural areas also influence the degree of infrastructural development and all this has an impact on entrepreneurial success. The tourism resources are deemed of value when the area is accessible (Butler, 2007) and poor infrastructural development, particularly of rural periphery, inhibit tourist access and, in turn, entrepreneurial viability. All this reveals entrepreneurship as a spatial phenomenon and distance from the markets determine the opportunities that the enterprise can exploit (Gaddefors & Anderson, 2019). Nonetheless, scholars concur that rural areas regardless of the geographical location are faced by lack of access to technology, lack of access to financial resources, relatively lower human capital levels and small market size (Dabson, 2001; Meccheri & Pelloni, 2006; Smallbone, 2009; Welter et al., 2006). The entrepreneurial skills that are needed to sustain enterprises either located in rural centre or the periphery are the same. The entrepreneur still needs to be risk- taking, innovative and possess interpersonal skills in order to ensure entrepreneurial success. For the purposes of this research, the geographical location of the enterprise within a rural area was overlooked and focus was placed on the skills set that entrepreneurs possess within the selected study areas. 2.2.2 The number of individuals involved Another approach to entrepreneurship is determined by the number of individuals involved in the entrepreneurial process. That is, entrepreneurship is a function of economic agents and is largely expressed through ownership and control over assets (Yan & Sorenson, 2003). From this angle, the analysis of entrepreneurship can either be individual or collective. Individual entrepreneurship is basically called proprietary, that is, single ownership of the enterprise where the individual is solely responsible for the proprietary duties. The extent to which individuals have built positive relationships in their local environments determines them as being either nomadic or enterprising. The former is poorly embedded in their local environment while the latter obtain distinctive competencies using local resources and are often highly positioned within the given society. Though individual entrepreneurs in rural areas build their own environment and benefit from the local resources and networks, they tend to avoid growth as they seek to safeguard their autonomy. Collective entrepreneurship refers to persons sharing ownership and conducting business activities together (Zito, 2011). On the other hand, it covers organisations characterised by 17 shared decision making and control (Yan & Yan, 2016) and consists of partnerships, private limited company and public limited company, NGOs, formal and non-formal association of a group of individuals on the basis of caste, occupation, income, and cooperatives. The distinct feature of collective entrepreneurship is that the innovation and risk-taking activities are done following consensus by more than one individual (Yan & Sorenson, 2003). Collective entrepreneurship within a rural set-up can be as a result of family ownership and cooperatives. While acknowledging that family bonds may facilitate entrepreneurship, it is prudent to also highlight that poor management and nepotism often lead to stifled expansion of family owned businesses (Bijman & Doorneweert, 2008). The cooperative concept can be extended to CBT where community members jointly participate in cultural tourism activities for example. The outstanding feature of cooperatives is that there is collaboration and community members involved are guided by shared values and beliefs. Most rural enterprises are micro and owner managed; their success is largely dependent on the entrepreneurial skill of the concerned individual entrepreneur(s). The ability of rural entrepreneurs in a particular destination to identify and capitalise niches presented by new types of tourists emerging within rural tourism discourse and/or changing lifestyles of existing tourists (Crnogaj et al., 2014) is influenced by the entrepreneurial skills they possess. The culturally-based tourism activities in Southern Africa have been overlooked (Saarinen & Rogerson, 2015) as a means to diversify and complement the established nature-based CBT enterprises. The experiences of rural women pursuing CBCTV as a means to improve destination competitiveness and appeal, offer authentic tourist experiences for the changing tourist tastes and generate household incomes for rural economies (Işık et al., 2019) inform this research. 2.2.3 The aim of the entrepreneurial activity Austin et al. (2006) further explain that an entrepreneurial activity can be carried out to either generate profit or enhance societal well-being and CBT enterprises are no exception. This brings out two dimensions in which rural tourism entrepreneurship can be analysed; that is, social and commercial entrepreneurship. Social tourism entrepreneurship refers to an innovative tourism-based activity whose underlying drive is to create social value rather than personal wealth (Aquino et al., 2018; Parwez, 2017). Simply put, social entrepreneurship seeks to address a social problem and is not defined in any legal form. Most rural areas are characterised by poverty and unemployment, while often lacking activities and leisure activities (Figueroa-Armijos et al., 2012). The social entrepreneurs seek to ameliorate such ills, better the living standards in rural communities and/or safeguard 18 community norms and beliefs. Etchart and Comolli (2013) add that social entrepreneurs improve the quality of life for the disadvantaged groups. This research focuses on rural women, a marginalised group in rural communities in Southern Africa; exploring their experiences in running their tourism ventures. This helps to highlight their contributions, or the lack thereof, towards alleviating unemployment and improving household livelihoods in the case communities. The tourism entrepreneurs address the community needs that are overlooked by governments and the private sector in developing countries (De Lange & Dodds, 2017). For example, Spenceley, et al. (2016) cite Wild Tours who provide employment (tour guides and porters) and also support linkages as the households in the villages are allowed to provide the hikers with meals and accommodation. This supports the notion that the entrepreneurs are the main actors in the provision of tourism products, services and resultant experiences that are sought by tourists visiting rural landscapes (Aquino et al., 2018). The entrepreneurial activities also produce sustainable outcomes (De Lange & Dodds, 2017) as the well-being of the community at large is improved. Commercial tourism entrepreneurship denotes a tourism entrepreneurial activity that is aimed at gaining profits. The main objective of the commercial entrepreneur is to enhance individual gain and/or increase shareholder value. That is, it seeks to satisfy the demands of limited stakeholders; suppliers and financiers for example (Estrin et al., 2016). This brings to the attention that the majority of CBT enterprises pursued in Southern Africa have been focused on wildlife conservation overlooking the ability of the local communities to participate in the tourism activities (trophy hunting, game drives and ecotourism accommodation) and inadequate community consultations by the external agencies. Faced with this scenario, the CBT ventures that are run by the locals themselves play a pivotal role in reducing leakages and ensuring that locals participate in mainstream tourism. Although commercial entrepreneurship is motivated by enhancing personal gain, it also benefits society (Austin et al., 2006) as the new goods and services offered can have transformative social impacts, job creation for example. Estrin et al. (2013) note that social and commercial entrepreneurs are only distinguished by their primary objectives, that is, social wealth creation and profit-making respectively. Apart from this, they both have the central role of innovation, risk bearing and investment. For the purposes of this research, both the commercial and social tourism entrepreneurship are is under discussion. This is guided by Estrin et al.'s (2016) assertion that, apart from the distinctive objectives of the enterprises, the entrepreneurial skills needed to achieve the same and to sustain rural-based tourism enterprises are the same. The human and social capital are important for the sustenance of entrepreneurs as they shape the ability to efficiently utilise economic resources at their disposal and find networks that are key in supporting the entrepreneurial initiatives. In a 19 nutshell, this research was guided by the pursuit and recognition of an opportunity beyond controllable resources (Butler, 2007; Cooney, 2012). The study sought to bring to the fore the experiences of rural women entrepreneurs, a voice that has been overlooked in literature relating to rural tourism and specifically CBT. 2.3 Elements of entrepreneurship Aldrich and Martinez (2001) highlight that the entrepreneurial elements identified by Low and Macmillan (1988) are key in understanding entrepreneurial success. These elements are process (understanding how entrepreneurs use their knowledge, networks and resources to build their businesses), context (environmental forces that is; population community and society that affects individual or group‘s entrepreneurial performance) and outcomes (influence of an individual‘s actions on the consequence of their actions). While these elements were applied to entrepreneurship in general, the same can be applied to rural entrepreneurship since the only difference is geographical location. 2.3.1 Process The entrepreneurial process relates to a strategy that shapes the outcome of entrepreneurial efforts (Aldrich & Martinez, 2001). It goes beyond the intention to start a venture and the acquisition of entrepreneurship knowledge (Gieure et al., 2020) to involve identifying, evaluating and exploiting opportunities in the external environment (Mamabolo & Myres, 2020). That is, the entrepreneurship process is a set of actions through which an individual and/or a group of individuals seek to exploit entrepreneurial opportunities that are novel and such opportunities may include new markets, new products or a combination of both (George et al., 2016). The activities within the entrepreneurship process are categorised into multiple phases (Amorós & Bosma, 2014) which help to provide a better overview of the entrepreneurial skills pertinent at each stage (Mueller et al., 2012). The phases in the entrepreneurship process consist of intention to start a venture, identifying opportunities, evaluating opportunities, selection and exploitation of a specific opportunity, commercialisation of the idea and entrepreneurship exit (Amorós & Bosma, 2014; DeTienne, 2010; Gieure et al., 2020). According to Mamabolo and Myres (2020), there are entrepreneurship activities that are specific to each phase and hence different entrepreneurial skills are required at each phase of the entrepreneurship process. Nonetheless, there is a blurred line that clearly distinguishes these entrepreneurship phases since the entrepreneurship activities are interconnected and cross cutting. The whole entrepreneurship process in Southern Africa is driven by push factors (reduced agricultural activity and climate change) and pull 20 factors (tourism as an alternative source of income) and the entrepreneurship skills and different entrepreneurial skills sets are utilised to identify, exploit and be able to adapt (Shane & Venkataraman, 2000). From this perspective, this study focuses on the identification of the entrepreneurship skills amongst female entrepreneurs and how they shape the entrepreneurship process while overlooking categorising ventures according to entrepreneurship phases. All the stages of the entrepreneurship process are shaped by the resources at the individual‘s disposal. The capital theory aptly summarises the entrepreneurship theory and broadly summarises the entrepreneurial resources as physical capital, natural capital, human capital, financial and social capital (Hultman & Hill, 2011). For the purposes of this research the human capital and the social capital will be discussed in detail. This is in line with Hjerppe's (2003) assertion that the human and social capitals are unique and play a significant role in a community‘s economic development through acquiring and/or productive use of the financial capital and the physical capital respectively. The research solely looks in detail into the supply side characteristics of rural economies with the ultimate objective of enhancing the quality of the tourism product offering through outlining and capacitating rural women. The survival of tourism businesses centres on the entrepreneurial elements identified by (Hultman & Hill, 2011) and these include; physical capital, human capital, social capital and financial capital. Though the elements are equally important, this research dwells in detail on the human capital and social capital with a particular emphasis on rural women. 2.3.1.1 Human capital Rizvi (2011) defines human capital as the skills, knowledge and experience that make an individual economically productive. It refers to the labour that is available to the household (Ellis, 2005) taking into consideration individual attributes: personality, educational levels, intelligence, family health and job experience (Hultman & Hill, 2011). The development of the entrepreneurial business is influenced by family background, age of the entrepreneur, management style and level of education (Lekhanya & Visser, 2016). All the same, on the job training, entrepreneurship experience, utilisation of unique knowhow and networking abilities are important human factors that are key in ensuring entrepreneurial success (Lekhanya & Visser, 2016). These aspects are further explained below. 21 2.3.1.1.1 Education Entrepreneurs accumulate knowledge through formal processes (education and formal training) and informal or tacit processes (learning by doing processes and work experience) (Meccheri & Pelloni, 2006). Formal education and training are viewed as the main method of enhancing human capital. Meccheri and Pelloni (2006) further note that high levels of education positively impact the entrepreneur‘s ability to search and utilise financial resources to develop the enterprise. This is so because intellectual ability is a necessity for the preparation of a successful application for institutional support. All the same, tacit processes refer to information that is not codified and/or communicated in a language and is acquired through experiences, observation and imitation (Hall & Andriani, 2003). These processes help in the development of entrepreneurial knowledge that is key in the sustenance of CBT enterprises. As such, it is the creation of knowledge that is dynamic and is shaped by social interactions. These interactions and experiences shape the context and anchor the beliefs and commitment from which the enterprises are sustained. Chell (2013) concludes that enterprises are sustained through interactions between both the formal and informal processes. Education is the backbone of the emancipation of rural women entrepreneurs (Phungwayo & Mogashoa, 2014). Though education is key in unlocking entrepreneurial potential, two-thirds of the world‘s population is illiterate, the majority of whom are women who live in rural areas (FAO, 2014). Peters and Brijlal (2011) conclude that there is a relationship between the entrepreneurs‘ level of education and the ability of the business to grow. In Cambodia, forty-eight percent of rural women are illiterate. Chirozva (2016) notes that the level of education influences the kind of planning and business decisions that an individual makes. As a result, there have been enormous efforts to enhance educational participation of girls. For example, Plan International implemented the Burkinabe Response to Improve Girls‘ Chances to Succeed (BRIGHT) which resulted in an increase in enrolment, retention, and graduation of girls in Burkina Faso between 2005 and 2008. In this regard, Minniti (2010) asserts that improving women‘s educational status has mixed impacts on the entrepreneurial process and concluded that better educated female entrepreneurs face better opportunities in gainful employment, hence formal education does not contribute to entrepreneurial initiatives. Despite the high illiteracy levels, rural women have pursued entrepreneurial activities. They have gained knowledge especially technical entrepreneurial aspects through indigenous knowledge systems and employment. Indigenous knowledge systems describe the knowledge systems developed by a community as opposed to the scientific knowledge (Ajibade, 2003) and are passed on through generational training; older women teach young girls on weaving for example. The indigenous knowledge systems facilitate the microenterprise of rural women due 22 to flexible working hours and community acceptance as they enable women to fulfil their other work as family caregivers. Nonetheless, such businesses face a challenge when expanding and/or entering new markets. In this regard, they lack the marketing knowledge to lure potential buyers. Faced with this scenario, there have been concerted efforts to train them through vocational training and entrepreneurial programmes. In Zimbabwe, there are vocational training institutions that seek to equip women with such aspects as financial knowledge, marketing, and enterprise which are aimed at ensuring business viability. It must be noted, however, that such programmes for rural women in Southern Africa have mainly been inclined to agriculture. Bulatović and Rajović (2017) underline the lack of training as a major challenge to rural tourism development. The training relating to various aspects of tourism business given to rural women in Uganda have seen them successfully catering for visitors long after the NGOs have pulled out (Lepp, 2004). 2.3.1.1.2 Personality The individual entrepreneur‘s personality influences the entrepreneurial process and overall performance of the enterprise (Goedhuys, 2000). Creativity, independent decisive decision making, self-confidence, willingness to take risks and a psychological need for achievement are personality traits that influence an individual‘s entrepreneurial ability (Estrin et al., 2016). The most discussed personality characteristics of an entrepreneur are the need for achievement, locus of control and risk-taking propensity (Sadera et al., 2019). An individual‘s personality influences the nature of a venture one engages in, for example extroverts will find it easier to undertake tour guiding initiatives (Estrin et al., 2016). Baron and Markman (2000) assert that personality traits can be enhanced through learning. This is against a background that an individual‘s personality regarding entrepreneurship is shaped by such prior life experiences as family background and childhood experiences (Estrin et al., 2016). It must be noted that the influence of personality on entrepreneurship is not universal (Morrison, 2006). For example, although independent and decisive decision making is desirable in Western countries; rural African communities prefer wider consultation prior to making decision (Austin, 2003). Tourism resources such as natural resources and culture are viewed as communal resources within rural African societies and hence custodianship is collective. Personality as a human capital factor thus has to be interpreted in the context of a specific environment. With particular reference to rural African communities such personality characteristics as humility lead to entrepreneurial success over self-confidence. This is primarily because the entrepreneur will get community cooperation, an essential aspect of rural tourism 23 entrepreneurship, when one understands and respects local traditions, traditional authority and the elderly and consult them on the proposed entrepreneurial initiatives (Austin, 2003). The personal skills refer to those behaviours that are the most natural, instinctive and habitual to the individual (Sadera et al., 2019) and are needed by entrepreneurs for the successful operations of a business. Papzan et al. (2008) note that innovation, marketing opportunities, lack of bureaucracy and need for achievement as entrepreneurial skills that are important for the sustenance of an initiative. Lekhanya and Visser (2016) identify leadership skills, creativity and innovation, social networking and trust, time management and goal setting and commitment as important skills for entrepreneurial success. The entrepreneur‘s personality characteristics influence the performance of the tourism enterprise (Black et al., 2010) and the personal entrepreneurial skills are notable among successful entrepreneurs. The development of these personality skills positively contributes to an increase in income earned without an increase in the resource base and the skills are discussed below. 2.3.1.1.3 Risk Taking Risk taking involves undertaking an economic activity when the outcome is blurred and there is a possibility of loss (Hassan et al., 2014). The courage to take risks is the first step an entrepreneur ought to possess in order to succeed (Hanson, 2009) and a positive attitude towards risk will allow the entrepreneurial success and sustenance in its business. Rural women‘s risk taking is often a result of push factors as the need to enhance household livelihoods. In a rural economy the risk taking emanates from venturing into other ways to complement agricultural income. Though rural entrepreneurial initiatives pursued by rural women are often micro and largely informal (Mazumdar & Ahmed, 2015), the risk-taking action is largely taken into consideration because of the opportunity costs. Most of rural women are poor and hence have to forgo one activity in pursuance of the next best alternative. Investment in CBTE is risky in itself due to the uncertainty caused by service intangibility and perishability (Kotler & Keller, 2006). The aspects at risk as a result of entrepreneurial actions include money, security, independence and time. The entrepreneur‘s perception of these risks is largely influenced by personal characteristics, immediate personal needs, presence of other opportunities and the type of business one is involved in (Lekhanya & Visser, 2016). The entrepreneur will perceive an initiative as less risky if he or she has background knowledge of how it is done. Such knowledge can be obtained from previous employment or when it is a family business, the family members will assist in the day to day running of the business and the decision-making process. 24 2.3.1.1.4 Innovation and creativity Creativity refers to the ability of entrepreneurs to introduce and/or bring out new products and services in their business (Hassan et al., 2014). The ability to sustain an entrepreneurial initiative is directly related to the ability to introduce new products and services, new processes, diversification and undertaking improvements in existing systems (Orhan & Scott, 2001). Creative skill enables an entrepreneur to differentiate his/her product or service offering and outwit the competition (Lekhanya & Visser, 2016) and find faster, better, cheaper and easier ways to produce and deliver their products and services (Hanson, 2009). Creativity enables the entrepreneur to come up with appealing tourism products and services using the tourism resources at their disposal. For example, the ability to complement a cultural festival with traditional food and beverages will enhance the destination competitiveness and lure more participants. Such creativity has to be augmented with a strong work ethic to meet and/or exceed tourist demands. De Klerk (2009) concludes that entrepreneurs must tap into their creativity in order to enhance long term viability. The ability to deal with change and cope with new processes and solutions is termed innovation (Pyysiäinen et al., 2006). Innovation thus can be achieved either by innovative production methods or by the improvement of existing products and production procedures. For the CBT enterprises to survive, they need to constantly keep pace with the changes in the environment and improve the tourism products accordingly. While change is inevitable it is often frightening. Nonetheless, Fontela et al. (2006) postulate that entrepreneurs‘ creative desire in engaging with new ideas and experimenting create innovative processes. The ability to be creative is an essential personal characteristic that leads to the success of the entrepreneurial processes in general. 2.3.1.1.5 Time management, goal setting and commitment Women are faced with an array of duties due to the patriarchal nature of rural societies and Ahuja (2012) states that women become entrepreneurs to balance work and family pressures. They have to take care of household chores, and in most cases, tourism activities are an alternative economic activity (Austin, 2003). In rural economies, particularly in Southern Africa, agriculture is the major economic activity and women who venture into CBTE need good time management and goal setting skills. Tourism products are difficult because of their characteristics that include perishability and inseparability, which require the women involved in tourism initiatives to have good time management skills. Good time management enables rural women to complete their tasks timeously and goal setting acts as a guide on what needs to be done to meet the needs of the tourists. 25 Zalkifli and Rosli (2013) state that the determinants of entrepreneurial processes are varied in nature and the sustenance of an initiative cannot be attributed to one skill. Rather, sustenance of an entrepreneurial activity is a result of a combination of skills, coupled with favourable external factors. Though the availability of tourism resources is essential, the success of any entrepreneurial activity strongly hinges on the entrepreneurial skills of individuals. These skills enable one to solve problems, plan, make decisions, communicate, undertake responsibilities, collaborate, network and undertake new roles (Rae, 2004). There are skills that are crucial for tourism entrepreneurship to be successful. Rural tourism is increasingly seen as a development strategy to promote a more diverse and sustainable rural economy and to counter declining agricultural incomes. The uniqueness of the entrepreneurial skills is a result of the tourism product characteristics that include inseparability, intangibility and variability (Kotler & Armstrong, 2008). The tourism product is people centred (McKenzie-Mohr et al., 2011) and the entrepreneurs need to have strong people skills to communicate for selling tourism products and services and employee motivation. Employee motivation will be instrumental in ensuring service consistency, very crucial in facilitating repeat business and positive word of mouth recommendation. Individuals who achieve and sustain unusually high levels of performance exist in many domains, -sports, medicine, music, science, entertainment and business are no exception (Sullivan & Meek, 2012). Sullivan and Meek (2012) further highlight that, although there have been concerted efforts to determine the origins of such performance, the conventional wisdom is that inherited talent and/or aptitudes play a crucial role. Presumably, only individuals who possess genetically determined aptitudes can hope to demonstrate exceptional performance in business. Research designed to test this suggestion, however, generally failed to provide confirming evidence. The exceptional performance in various fields is not usually consistent with outstanding individual talent and intelligence (Baron & Henry, 2010). Findings by Sullivan and Meek (2012) indicate that intelligence and individual aptitudes are key in initiating and developing an entrepreneurial idea. For the entrepreneurial initiative to be sustained, there are certain skills with which an entrepreneur needs to be endowed. The successful sustenance of an entrepreneurial initiative is as a result of the skills, values, actions and motives of an individual coupled with external factors and interactions between these variables (Shane & Eckhardt, 2003). Though much of research relating to entrepreneurship has centred on the environmental factors (status of the economy, availability of venture capital, actions of the competitors and government policies); Shane and Eckhardt (2003) assert the need to understand the 26 entrepreneurs themselves. They highlight that the entrepreneurial process is a result of an individual‘s actions to pursue opportunities and such actions are guided by skills. The successful management of an enterprise requires tourism entrepreneurs to possess an array of skills (Baron & Shane, 2005). These skills are broadly categorised as personal, functional and business management skills (Pyysiäinen et al., 2006). These entrepreneurial skills form the basis of this research which seeks to disaggregate the notion of entrepreneurial skills within the broader framework of rural women‘s participation in tourism entrepreneurship. The functional and business management skills refer to the technical knowledge, tools and techniques that enable one to achieve organizational goals (Johnson et al., 2015). 2.3.1.2 Social Capital Social capital relates to the quality derived from the structure of an individual‘s network relationships (Hultman & Hill, 2011) and it is defined as social relationships, networks, trust and norms within a given society that guide in determining the quality and quantity of that society‘s social interactions (Paldam, 2011). In this regard, social capital enables the mobilisation of entrepreneurial support and resources that is embedded in the structure of human relationships (Jeong, 2008). Both the formal and informal interactive processes determine the contribution of the networks and interactions to the entrepreneurial process (Kilpatrick et al., 2003). These interactive processes include; frequency of interaction,reciprocity, trust and shared norms and values and they influence an individual‘s ability to gain the entrepreneurial skills. The sources of social capital include family ties. These represent strong ties which Woolcock and Narayan (2000) termed ―bonds‖ and they also include close friends and professional colleagues who help in imparting skills and often serve as ready markets to the entrepreneurs. Such aspects as cooperation between neighbours, the satisfaction of own works, husband cooperation, social prestige and late marriages are considered as social capital (Paldam, 2011). The social networks are valuable resources as they allow the entrepreneurs to be more efficient, access business privileged opportunities embedded in social relations and improve innovation through sharing of ideas (Ahuja, 2012). The unique characteristics of the tourism product present a strong interdependence among tourism stakeholders (Bjork & Virtanen, 2005) as they lack formal connections, and there are no institutions such as banks and government offices in some rural areas. The research addresses how such components of social capital as social structure, social networks and norms influence the entrepreneurial skills of rural women. To appraise the influence of social capital, this research assesses the supply side of selected destinations in terms of the type of tourism businesses in which rural women are involved. The analysis of the social capital helps in determining social networks within a community. The 27 social networks determine the extent to which an individual has access to the information, knowledge, financial and other resources that are key in developing and sustaining an entrepreneurial venture (Aldrich & Martinez, 2001). This helps to ascertain whether rural women can recognise and make use of the opportunities that are at their disposal. Social networks provide social links that facilitate the discovery and exploitation of new opportunities as well as the identification and collection of scarce tourism resources. Social networking refers to friendliness and desire to interweave the relationship with other entrepreneurs. It relates to the formal and informal relationships that shape and guide the social behaviour of the persons, groups or business bodies involved (Zhang & Zhang, 2018). The relationships exist among stakeholders involved in CBT which include; government, tourists, local community, NGOs and the tourism industry (Spenceley et al., 2016). The relationships either informal or formal result in social networks among the stakeholders involved. Zhang and Zhang (2018) identify exchange, communication and normative networks as types of social networks. He postulates that exchange networks involve commercial relationships between the enterprise and their business partners and/or competitors. The monetary exchange is highly notable in the exchange networks. Such a network is evident in the relationships that exist between a tour operator and the farm owner offering home stay and/or excursions for example. The farmer will be dependent on the tour operator for the marketing of his tourism activities and in turn pay commission for example, for the tour operator‘s marketing efforts. The communication networks involve the provision of information to the enterprise by non-trade linked organisations that include; government agencies, non-government organisations and travel consultants (Ndoro et al., 2018). The communication networks provide information that assist in sustaining the entrepreneurial initiative. As such, they seek to assist the entrepreneur in providing technical and financial expertise for example, that is critical in ensuring enterprise success. The NGOs, for example, will provide training to rural women in basic management skills that will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the entrepreneur in resource use and competitiveness. The personal networks that are family, friends and tourist relationships and constitute normative networks. These relationships relate to individuals who are close to the entrepreneur and help in providing feedback about the enterprise performance. In this case, the entrepreneur will obtain information relating to the tourist‘s needs, attitudes and values. The CBT product is an amalgam of components and such a characteristic makes interdependency among stakeholders critical for the success of an entrepreneurial initiative (Bjork & Virtanen, 2005). Entrepreneurs in general and rural women entrepreneurs in particular need to constantly interact with people as these are potential clients and are also sources of capital. The ability to maintain positive 28 relationships and interactions is crucial for the sustenance of an entrepreneurial initiative. Social networks are best understood as webs of interpersonal relationships in which most actions of individuals are embedded (Pyysiäinen et al., 2006). These networks are useful, especially for rural women tourism entrepreneurs as they help in supplementing weak institutions. Mesquita and Lazzarini (2009) note that social networks help entrepreneurs to attain collective efficiency that is necessary to overcome infrastructural constraints which help to speed up market transactions. The ability to use social networks represents an important skill that can help entrepreneurs to build competitive advantage. Broadly, social capital provides an understanding of the entrepreneurial dynamics within a given community. Social networks, trust and tied relationships contribute to the initiation and sustenance of rural tourism entrepreneurship. 2.3.2 Marketing and market size Marketing refers to the ―interaction and interrelationships between consumers and producers of goods and services, through which ideas, products, services and values are created and exchanged for the mutual benefit of both groups‖ (Weaver & Lawton, 2006: 203). Marketing skills are key in ensuring continued business survival as they determine the volume of sales and the market size (Lekhanya & Visser, 2016). Marketing is also crucial in finding new markets for the products and services. The development of the marketing skills set of the locals as noted by Spenceley (2008) can increase income earned by rural fold without either an increase in resource use or a decrease in agricultural land use. In spite of an innovative good or service that an entrepreneur might conceive, the sustenance of the same is as a result of people wanting to buy. Good marketing skills enable the entrepreneur to reach the market (its potential customers). Marketing skills are also key in enabling an enterprise to maintain distinctiveness in a competitive market (De Klerk, 2009) and anticipate the changing consumer needs (Hisrich et al., 2005) thereby facilitating the formulation of competitive strategies. Tourism marketing skills relate to the anticipation and identification of consumer needs. Simply put, these marketing skills result in the entrepreneur being able to offer unique products and services, select the right promotional mix and distribution channels. The entrepreneur‘s success hinges on the use of promotional skills particularly the ability to harness the internet and social media platforms to enhance product accessibility. The use of the internet ensures that entrepreneurs have a wide geographical reach of their potential customers, and the remoteness and inaccessibility of most rural locations make the adoption of intyernet technologies favourable (Litvin et al., 2008). Nonetheless, the rural women are characterised with lack of 29 requisite skills to develop online marketing content and poor support infrastructure (Gieure et al., 2020), and this limits their online presence. In this instance, Lekhanya and Visser (2016) note that marketing orientation relates to the volume of sales and market size. While most rural communities are poor, the success of CBT initiatives in rural communities will depend on the market size of the enterprise. The internationalisation of tourism services coupled with digital marketing, particularly social media marketing, have expanded the market size of rural tourism enterprises. The market size of an enterprise thus depends on the ability of the entrepreneur to implement various marketing initiatives that will stimulate travel. 2.3.3 Context The second element of entrepreneurship is the context (Ko, 2012), which relates to the analysis and understanding of the external factors that influence the entrepreneurial process (Toutain et al., 2017). Brush et al. (2010) add that context refers to external circumstances, conditions, situations and environments that enable or constrain the entrepreneurial process. The understanding of the context (conditions and circumstances) that shape rural entrepreneurship help to appreciate the experiences, perceptions and knowledge of the entrepreneurs, and the way that entrepreneurial skills impact the entrepreneurship process and resultant outcomes (Marvel et al., 2016). As such, the entrepreneurship process is embedded in the external environments and changes in these outside sets of conditions have a bearing on the entrepreneurship process (Toutain et al., 2017). Aldrich and Martinez (2001) conclude that the success or failure of the entrepreneurial process is determined by the environment within which it is conceived. The components that constitute the external environment include socio-cultural context, spatial context, institutional context and economic context (Anderson et al., 2016; Korsgaard et al., 2015). 2.3.3.1 Socio-cultural context This combines the social and cultural factors, and the former comprises the nature of development within a given community. Chell (2013) alludes that the social factors include infrastructural development and provision of amenities determine the development and transference of the entrepreneurial skills amongst the local entrepreneurs. Rural communities in developing countries, and Southern Africa in particular, are characterised by poor infrastructural and communication networks. Consequently, rural communities are remote and it may be difficult for tourists to access the services offered within a rural set-up. In addition, the majority of rural population in Southern Africa are among the worldwide individuals that survive on less 30 than US$2 per day (Truong et al., 2020). They do not have additional income to invest in tourism entrepreneurial initiatives, hence their products and services remain relatively unknown. Rural people in Southern Africa tend to move away from natural resource-based occupations (Spenceley, 2003). Only 3.2% of rural households in Namibia rely primarily on CBTE as a source of income (Lapeyre, 2010). Ellis (2005) points out poverty and a move towards more resilience and sustainability as drivers for CBTE. This research explores the contextual factors within which CBT is being undertaken in rural communities, with a specific focus on gender (see Chapter 5). The social context also relates to the social networks and interactions that are utilised by entrepreneurs in the enterprise development process (Mamabolo & Myres, 2020). For this reticence, the social networks act as connections that help entrepreneurs in resource mobilisation, negotiation of other contextual factors and creation of value (Gaddefors & Anderson, 2019). The roles and expected behaviours of rural women are socially constructed resulting in their entrepreneurship experiences being embedded in the community‘s social norms and connected to other community institutions (Bock, 2015). The cultural context also provides resources for rural tourism ventures (community events and lifestyle, heritage and crafts). Ivanovic and Saayman (2013) postulate that the Southern African region is endowed with cultural tourism resources that can be tapped by tourists in search of authentic experiences, recreation and meaning. This indicates that culture and tourism are interrelated; the traditions, heritage, arts and daily way of life reveal the multidimensional nature of culture (Sá, et al., 2018). This study focuses on the entrepreneurial experiences emanating from the development of culturally-based ventures. 2.3.3.2 Gender Gender is defined as socially and culturally accepted behaviours and relations between male and female (Arroyo et al., 2019). Since gender is socio-culturally constructed, it constantly changes according to the way a given society uses it (Bruni et al., 2005). Gender roles are roles people play that are socially constructed and behaviours that are repeated over time (Bakas, 2014). Gender roles and relations are a product of how gender is performed and repeated behaviours over time result in internalisation of the acts as a natural way of being. Although the adoption of such roles is not directed by genetically based predispositions (Haralambos, 2008), the gendered division of labour is based on the biological differences. Gender is a form of social power (Ahl & Nelson., 2010) hence crucial in the analysis of tourism entrepreneurship. In this instance, rural women in particular undertake household chores as cooking and favour starting such tourism enterprises. This resonates with the assertion that 31 gender roles are influenced by cultural factors and (Foley et al., 2018) stresses the importance of considering analysing gender and entrepreneurship in a context-specific manner. The differences in gender roles are notable, particularly between developed and developing countries, due to gender equality disparities. This research puts focus on rural women involved in tourism enterprises in Southern Africa. The conclusions relating to the study will be aided by similarities in cultural identity between the selected case communities. Sarfaraz et al. (2014) state that entrepreneurship in developing countries enables rural women to earn income and reduce unemployment and poverty. Baughn et al. (2006) note that gender equality enhances the support for female entrepreneurship. Nonetheless, in developed countries (particularly Romania) though the gender gap has been reduced, rural female entrepreneurship is low (Yadav & Unni, 2016). Yadav and Unni (2016) attribute this to the preference of women to take paying jobs rather than starting a business because of the huge financial rewards. Though there is a significant gender gap in the entrepreneurial activity rate across the world, there is consensus among scholars that women can play a key role in the entrepreneurial phenomenon. This is against the assertion that rural women have less opportunity to control their lives and make decisions compared to men (Brush & Cooper, 2012). Women comprise the majority of the population in rural communities and there has been a proliferation of women entrepreneurs (Lowry, 2006). Women are the key players in the performance of rural economies and Sarfaraz et al. (2014) attribute an increase in female entrepreneurs in developing countries to the need for some women to work from home, reduce unemployment, reduce poverty and earn income. Rural women have less access to productive resources and opportunities than men and Reid (2003) notes that they are weighed down by social customs. A clear illustration is that of the Indian rural women who give up their potential and social image due to the conservative social and religious doctrine (Ahuja, 2012). Despite being faced with these challenges; rural women are the nerve centre around which rural economies revolve. The number of female entrepreneurs across the world has been growing gradually in recent years; researchers and policy makers have been paying more attention to female entrepreneurship. McGehee et al. (2007) argue that rural women are the pioneers in entrepreneurial initiatives in the tourism sector. This is primarily because such activities as handicrafts and heritage largely depend on the innovation that is regarded as gendered as they have, in most instances been performed by women. In this respect rural economies seek to earn extra income through tourism enterprises. Brandth (2002) thus concludes that social tourism entrepreneurship makes rural women a visible workforce. It must be noted that the success of entrepreneurship largely depends on the innovation and the ability to differentiate the product offering. Limited resources 32 often constrain rural women from achieving the same (Dinis, 2006). The involvement of local institutions often aids the success of rural women entrepreneurship. A series of training courses was conducted in the Campo Benfeito, the Institute of Cultural Affairs which enabled rural women to work together in the production of crafts. As a result, the craftsmen‘s cooperative was one of the fourteen winners of the WWSF prize for women‘s creativity in rural life in 2007. Female tourism entrepreneurship matters for countries and rural communities because women constitute the greater part of rural population especially in developing countries. The study of female entrepreneurship allows researchers to ask questions that shed light not only on why women behave the way they do but also on the linkages between entrepreneurship and wealth creation, employment, human capital accumulation and labour market dynamics in rural communities. There has been significant growth in the number of women who have initiated tourism enterprises (Hassan et al., 2014) and much of the research has focused on the problems faced by women entrepreneurs. De Bruin et al. (2006) outline that studies have focused on women entrepreneurs as a comparison to their male counterparts and women are being considered as a single population. Contextual factors have an influence on performance and this research outlines the different women‘s groups as single parents, married and the retired. Carter et al. (2003) concur that there are differences among groups of women and the recognition of these contextual differences better helps to explain the entrepreneurial process. In this regard, women entrepreneurs who may be single parents may be sustaining the tourism entrepreneurial initiatives out of necessity and it might be that the lack of an initial resource base rather than lack of skill is inhibiting their growth potential (Torri & Martinez, 2011). Globally, women have played a critical role in the initiation and sustenance of entrepreneurial businesses. Hassan et al. (2014) note that nearly a quarter of newly established businesses were owned by women and 20% of entrepreneurs in France are women (Orhan & Scott, 2001). In summary, Carter et al., (2003) and De Bruin et al. (2006) postulate that female entrepreneurship is vastly understudied. There have been significant changes in the status and societal roles of women, and this has influenced the scope and shape of female entrepreneurship in general. It is critical to note the growing number of initiatives aimed at promoting and empowering female entrepreneurs in developing countries. 2.3.3.3 Spatial context This relates to the way that rural entrepreneurship is influenced by the geographic location of the place by appreciating both the physical impact and the sense of attachment to the place (Zahra et al., 2014). The availability of physical resources within a given area (landscape and biodiversity) represents the countryside capital that influences the nature and scope of the 33 development of rural tourism as an economic activity (Garrodet al., 2006). Muñoz and Kimmitt (2019) point out that distance can inhibit entrepreneurship by making the place inaccessible and costly to pursue tourism as an economic activity. The availability of the entrepreneurial resources at a particular place and unfavourable conditions affect both the local entrepreneurs and enterprises run by community outsiders (Müller & Korsgaard, 2018). This study focuses on the local entrepreneurs thereby validating the relevancy of local ties and a sense of commitment to the place as contextual factors that influence the entrepreneurship process. De Bruin et al. (2017) define a rural place beyond the physical dimension, as an area embedded with relationships (with nature and other community members) and a shared sense of belonging. The emotional attachment to the place guides the local entrepreneurs to use tourism resources sustainably and also stimulate them to develop their places (with little or no personal gain) despite rural areas being deprived places (Muñoz & Kimmitt, 2019). From this perspective, the spatial dimension provides the theatrical stage for entrepreneurship experiences beyond the space by linking the resource values, social norms, milieu and meanings attached to the place (Cresswell, 2013). The tourists that are in search of meaning and rural idyll represent new opportunities to rural communities and the spatial aspects being tourism entrepreneurship resources (Sá et al., 2018). 2.3.3.4 Institutional and economic aspects The institutional and economic aspects are also part of the external environment (Mamabolo & Myres, 2020) that impacts the development of entrepreneurial skills and the entrepreneurship process as a whole. The profitability and growth of the ventures are the outcomes inherent in the entrepreneurship process. If the venture is not profitable, an entrepreneur mostly abandons the operations and searches for alternative ways to exploit the available resources. The pursuit for economic gain is guided by the institutional factors (culture, legislation and community organisation). Singer et al. (2018) reveal that the community‘s political and cultural environments determine the nature of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship skills development and the establishment of the ventures. The context impacts the abilities and knowledge of rural women entrepreneurs (Mamabolo & Myres, 2020), and Toutain et al. (2017) acknowledge that the entrepreneurial environments influence the ability and willingness of community members to become entrepreneurs. In addition, these external factors shape the way in which entrepreneurs construct reality through their perceptions and decide on the course of action to undertake. This resonates well with Salimath and Cullen's (2010) assertion that external factors both natural and human devised guide human interaction hence directly impacting the entrepreneurial process. Apart from 34 providing opportunities, context is also a source of threats and this sets confinements within which entrepreneurs should act (Brush et al., 2010) thereby indicating that the context impacts both the acquisition and utilisation of the entrepreneurship skills (Chell, 2013). Chapter five explains the case communities‘ contextual factors which help to explain the nature of entrepreneurial skills applied in different forms of culturally-based tourism initiatives. The contextual factors are interconnected and interrelated; their analysis helps in observing and interpreting rural women entrepreneurs‘ experiences, knowledge and perceptions. 2.4 Gendered economic rural livelihoods Rural businesses comprise small enterprises that are largely informal and Phungwayo and Mogashoa (2014) value these small enterprises‘ contributions towards household livelihoods particularly in developing economies. The non-farm activities, specifically the CBT initiatives, absorb potential excess of farm labour (Lanjouw & Lanjouw, 2001) and represent a community alternative in the face of failure or reduced agricultural output. The involvement of local communities in managing and sustaining tourism resources, particularly in rural communities, has taken different forms and this is attributable to such factors as community cohesion, the availability of alternative means of earning income, the degree of involvement of external agencies and ways of allocating benefits (Adams & Hulme, 2001; Cohen, 2004). It is against this background that Child (2004) concludes that CBTE enhances rural livelihoods. Such an analysis is built upon the Common Property theory that argues that common pool resources can be utilised sustainably when the community as an institution is given autonomy and recognition (Setokoe & Kariyana, 2016). Such principles as proprietorship, tenure rights and the right to make rules and enforce them ensure the success of community-based tourism. As such, CBT has been based on the political ideology theory and the empirical evidence that favoured the devolution of natural resources management to local institutions (Bryant & Jarosz, 2004). The idealisation is further reinforced by Goldman's, (2003) assertion that the control and decision-making process of tourism resources by external agencies lead both to social injustice and failure of conservation and development initiatives. Nonetheless, such an analysis is based on assumptions that rural communities are harmonious and will naturally promote sustainable tourism development if left alone (Zimmerer, 2000). Gray and Moseley (2005) note that community structures are often inequitable and accountable, and the power dynamics often result in social relations that are based on conflict and competition. The gender differences are inherent in rural economies particularly in developing countries. Hence the influence of the gender differences regarding tourism contribution to rural livelihoods is worth researching. 35 2.4.1 Rural tourism as a livelihood strategy Rural livelihood strategies are defined as the different ways in which individuals within a given rural area utilise their capabilities and assets to earn a living (Ellis, 2005; FAO, 2014). Rural households are involved in an array of activities that are aimed at combating poverty, managing their environments and developing their communities. Household activities include both income generating and socio-cultural factors (Hisrich et al., 2007) that can be categorised as either distress push or demand pull (Haggblade et al., 2002). The former is a result of the need to reduce risk and/or diminishing returns whilst the latter is a result of the realization of a strategic complement between and/or among activities and specialisation according to competitive advantage due to superior resource endowments (Haggblade et al., 2005). This indicates that household strategies pursued within a given context revolve around the resources (capabilities, institutional frameworks, socio-economic and ecological processes) that are available (Batterbury, 2001). Rural households in developing countries are increasingly pursuing tourism as a livelihood activity in the face of failing agriculture due to climate change (Kavita & Saarinen, 2016). Rural tourism in Southern Africa has predominantly been developed in the context of community- based natural resources management (CBNRM). The CBNRM initiatives have impacted the local communities both positively and negatively (Ashley, 2000; Goodwin & Santilli, 2009; Spenceley et al., 2003). Louw, (2010) concludes that the net socio-economic impacts of CBNRM initiatives have not been able to trigger significant changes at household level. Suich (2013) evaluated two CBNRM programs, the Tchuma Tchato project, Mozambique and the Kwandu Conservancy, Namibia and concluded that the former has no positive impacts at the household level whilst the latter positively impacted only the household capital. Faced with this scenario, the local community members are utilising cultural tourism resources (either individually or collectively) as a means to earn a living from tourism activities (Mgonja et al., 2015). The CBCTV are aimed at complementing benefits from the mainstream tourism and other economic activities instead of replacing them (Manwa, 2018). Although Su et al. (2019) identify tourism as an economic development option, there is need to scrutinise its contributions at household level. The culturally-based tourism activities, like other informal activities pursued in rural communities are a survival strategy that is aimed at improving household livelihoods (Saayman et al., 2020). Their contributions towards reducing poverty make them an intergral part of the household livelihood portfolio. 36 2.4.1.1 Application of the sustainable livelihood framework The sustainable livelihood framework (SLF) is essential in analysing the culturally-based tourism activities as a means to reduce poverty at household level. It is an integrated and holistic analytical tool that examines the ensuing relationships between tourism and the community (Su et al., 2019). The SLF indicates how different results are attained when different livelihood strategies are pursued and assets utilised in different contexts (Scoones, 2009). Thus the components of the framework are inputs (assets- human capital, social capital, natural capital and knowledge capital), livelihood strategies (agricultural activities, remittances, livelihood diversification) and outcomes (employment, poverty reduction and resilience). The analysis of the assets and the livelihood strategies pursued in the case communities are explained in chapter 5. The understanding of culturally-based tourism experiences is noted in chapter 6 and the different ways in which rural women entrepreneurs are exploiting the cultural tourism resources. In the same vein, the impacts of the CBCTV are highlighted in chapter 8. The SLF has been applied to analyse the impacts of mainstream tourism on the host communities. The framework helps to analyse the context, livelihood strategies and outcomes rather than focusing only on the tourism incomes generated. In this case, the impacts of tourism as an economic activity are analysed qualitatively through an understanding of the lived experiences of the local people (Truong et al., 2020). This is in sync with Scheyvens and Hughes' (2019) assertion that livelihoods are multidimensional and focus should consider the socio-cultural aspects, economic aspects and structural inequalities inherent in rural communities when analysing tourism impacts. Gao and Wu (2017) analysed how tourism rejuvenated the Yuanjin village, China, based on the components of the SLF; that is, assets, tourism and non-tourism related activities, outcomes, institutional arrangements and vulnerability context. The framework has been helpful in determining the impacts of nature- based tourism in Namibia and drawing conclusions that tourism activities improved the communities economically (employment and income generation) while the social aspects deteriorated (conflicts between neighbouring communities, local conflicts over tourism) (Ashley, 2000). Although the tourism impacts are difficult to quantify because of rural communities‘ pursuance of multiple livelihood strategies, the SLF provides useful starting points (Chen et al., 2018). In this study, the entrepreneurs‘ lived experiences are analysed using the SLF to determine the impact of the entrepreneurial initiatives on building capabilities and skills, improving the entrepreneurs‘ well-being, providing livelihood opportunities, improving sufficiency (assets) and easing hardships (earn a living) (Scheyvens & Hughes, 2019; Su et al., 2019; Tabaka-Morrissey et al., 2018). The use of the SLF to analyse the impacts of culturally-based tourism initiatives helps to 37 unravel the power dynamics at household level, strategies used to earn a living and opportunities seized from the entrepreneurs‘ perspectives (Truong et al., 2020). This is vital especially when considering that national statistical data underestimates the value of the economic activities in rural communities. The SLF provides a multidimensional analysis of the qualitative aspects of the entrepreneurs‘ livelihoods (Scheyvens & Hughes, 2019) and the analysis of the entrepreneurial experiences (chapter 8) goes beyond the income generated to include relations with others, power dynamics and accumulation of assets. In this study the analysis of the impacts of rural women entrepreneurs‘ activities towards their livelihoods is guided by the SLF. This research evaluates the impact of the entrepreneurial initiatives on the concerned entrepreneur‘s assets, income, support of other economic activities and availability of basic resources (chapter 8). 2.5 Chapter summary The review of literature in this chapter explained themes related to the study that include; defining rural entrepreneurship, explaining elements of rural tourism entrepreneurship, rural women and tourism entrepreneurship and motivations for rural tourism entrepreneurship. This is significant to understanding entrepreneurship within the socio-economic context and in a rural set-up. This chapter also highlights that several studies suggest the importance of rural tourism to rural economies. The complex nature of rural tourism entrepreneurship is also detailed in this chapter, which helped the researcher to take a gendered dimension and narrow the study of CBTE to culturally-based tourism. From this perspective, the current study adds knowledge relating to rural tourism entrepreneurship through an understanding of rural women‘s experiences. The analysis of the contextual factors, entrepreneurial processes and outcomes help to analyse tourism as an economic activity and and the way that rural women are involved in the economic dynamics in rural contexts. As such, this chapter introduces rural women as economic agents whose entrepreneurial activities influence rural economies. The next chapter focuses on CBT, which is a form of rural tourism and a niche in the global tourism market (Ashley, 2000) that has the potential to uplift rural economies. The detailed discussions of CBT help to widen the horizon of understanding the development and contribution of tourism in rural economies whilst identifying the gaps filled by the current research.This is in line with the assertion that culturally-based tourism activities are a survival strategy followed by the marginalised rural women and aimed at sustaining their families in the face of declining agricultural output and insignificant earnings from the mainstream tourism activities. 38 CHAPTER 3: COMMUNITY BASED TOURISM 3.1 Introduction This chapter seeks to detail relevant literature regarding the tourism activities pursued by local communities and is aimed at understanding the way locals are involved in community-based tourism (CBT). The sections in this chapter include; defining CBT, characteristics of CBT, stakeholder analysis and the development of CBT in Southern Africa. This information builds a platform to explain the involvement of rural women in CBT as entrepreneurs and their abilities to sustain their initiatives. As such, this study goes beyond Mowforth and Munt's (2008) conclusion that a community is the physical location where tourism activities are undertaken to explain the active participation of rural women in delivering tourism products and experiences. 3.2 Community Based Tourism – definition Community based tourism (CBT) is defined as forms of tourism in which the local community is involved and benefits in the operation of enterprises that are located within the community and serve tourists (Runyowa, 2017). It encompasses tourism-based initiatives owned by one or more community members with or without the aid of external stakeholders and aimed at improving the standard of living through the sustainable use of communal resources (Salazar, 2012). CBT hinges on enabling the local community to own and/or manage tourism enterprises within their locality for the purpose of enabling visitors to understand their way of life in a sustainable manner (Goodwin & Santilli, 2009). The CBT initiatives include provision of accommodation that includes luxury lodges and homestays (Spenceley, 2008), ecotourism (Trekking, bird watching, tour guiding, photography), traditional gastronomy, heritage and cultural activities (Goodwin & Santilli, 2009). The nature of the activities will vary according to differences in resource endowment within and among communities. For example, at Buhoma Village Walk, Uganda, visitors can see gorillas during the day whilst Kahawa Shamba, Tanzania, enables visitors to tour a very successful coffee farm with an option to have lunch (Goodwin & Santilli, 2009). The current research focuses on culturally-based CBT activities and emphasis will be placed on the human skill (possessed by rural women) in the utilisation of the community resources in terms of efficiency for tourism purposes. This is premised on the notion that nature-based tourism activities in Southern Africa are more visible in terms of both development and marketing (Saarinen & Rogerson, 2015) and cultural tourism remains in the periphery despite the abundance of cultural resources (Adinolfi & Ivanovic, 2015). Notably, the Southern African region is characterised by diverse ethnic cultures 39 with unique traditions, cuisine, religion and ways of life (Manwa et al., 2016) and these guided the researcher in the selection of the CBT as cases for this study. CBT is further defined as an alternative development that promotes marginalised groups of the society. Giampiccoli et al. (2015b) assert that CBT is an approach that values community development through putting the capabilities of the locals to the enterprises at the forefront and greater emphasis is on empowerment and social justice. The analysis of the entrepreneurial skills, particularly of rural women involved in CBT, helps in understanding the community‘s potential. CBT activities are critical in aiding rural women to generate additional income for their daily activities by utilising the tourism resources in their locality. 3.3 Characteristics of CBT CBT is a unique form of tourism with characteristics different from mass tourism. Giampiccoli and Mtapuri (2012) note CBT is an alternative form of tourism that seeks to ensure that the host community benefits from the use of tourism resources in their locality. The major aim of CBT is to enhance rural livelihoods rather than profit. The emphasis is on the use of tourism as a vehicle to utilise resources within the locality for the benefit of the locals. Broadly speaking the characteristics of CBT include mutual benefit (or net socio-economic benefits), community ownership and participation, use of communal resources, reciprocation and collaborative approach (Giampiccoli et al., 2015a). 3.3.1 Net socio-economic benefits One of the underlying principles of CBT is that the tourism activity must be economically viable and generate benefits for the host community in a sustainable manner (Sakata & Prideaux, 2013). The emphasis is on the use of tourism as a vehicle to utilise resources within the locality for the benefit of the locals. Mbaiwa (2005) makes use of the meaning of sustainable development to derive categories of socio-economic benefits that he categorised as economic efficiency, social equity and ecological sustainability. This resonates with Scheyvens' (2007) assertion that CBT seeks to empower the local community socio-economically and psychologically and the benefits are presented in Table 3-1. 40 Table 3-1: The socio-economic benefits of CBT Improved Local Collective Social capital and empowerment livelihoods/standards Economic Benefits of living development Employment Economic Ability to fund Equal opportunities development/ social/ other benefits projects Increased livelihood Use of local Regeneration/ Empowerment/ decision making/ options products/ infrastructure capacity building reduced development leakages Establishment of Rural Local community management/ micro-enterprises development ownership/governance/participation Poverty alleviation Stakeholder Participation partnerships/ linkages Improved Local community working together /compromise/interest standard of living Income/Revenue Minimal impact on community generation Source: (Goodwin & Santilli, 2009, 18) Table 3-1 indicates that CBT results in the improvement of rural livelihoods as it offers ways to generate revenue; create employment opportunities and a multiplier effect. This is supported by Ashley's (2000) earlier conclusions that local communities in the Caprivi region in Namibia earned income from the sale of curios and employment opportunities presented by the established tourism enterprises. In addition, Setokoe and Kariyana (2016) allude that the establishment of the Bulungwa lodge in the Nqqileni village in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa created employment opportunities for the locals. The jobs enable the locals to work from their homes; hence it enables them to complete other tasks like herding cattle and, in the case of women, domestic chores. On the other hand, Mbaiwa (2005) concludes that the tourism contributions to poverty alleviation in the Okavango Delta have been insignificant and CBT has been aimed at attaining conservation goals rather than community benefits. In addition, rural 41 communities surrounding Rocktail Bay lodges in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa did not derive meaningful benefits from the CBT venture and Ashley et al. (2007) attribute these failures to the inability of the CBT ventures to compete in the global tourism market and a lack of commercial viability. The failure to offer meaningful household benefits by nature-based CBT activities pursued by local communities in partnership with the external agencies calls for alternative interventions. Stone (2015) views nature-based CBT as theoretically beneficial but without any tangible economic benefits cascading to individuals. This study puts a focus on culturally-based CBT ventures that are undertaken by the locals, specifically rural women independent of external agencies and/or with minimum support. This is guided by the direct contributions made by the ventures towards household livelihoods. Table 3-1 also indicates that the CBT activities improve the host community‘s social assets and Ashley (2000) points out community cohesion brought by consultations of residents made by committees of the communities, especially in the Kunene region, Namibia. The equitable distribution of the benefits generated and/or its use to improve social services in the community improve neighbour relations. The social assets that have been improved include the revival of the Maasai traditional dances and other cultural activities in the Mara and Amboseni regions of Kenya as a way to improve tourist experiences (Oketch & Bob, 2009). On the other hand, the nature-based CBT activities have resulted in human-wildlife conflicts. These disputes arise when wildlife destroys crops and livestock even in neighbouring communities that are not involved in CBT. The Kimana area in Kenya has recorded more wildlife induced losses than benefits as it experiences livestock and crop losses that are not compensated (Meguro & Inoue, 2011) The benefits derived from tourism depicted in Table 3-1 are overemphasised (Batyk, 2011) and the realisation of the benefits by the communities is debatable (Setokoe & Kariyana, 2016). This study takes into consideration the contributions of the CBT ventures initiated and sustained by the community members. In this instance, focus is on the skills, actual and potential that rural women have and/or utilise to attain the stated individual and/or community benefits. Apart from identifying the skills gap among rural women in the selected case communities, the research is key in facilitating efficient and effective resource use which ultimately has wider community benefits. In pursuance of CBT activities, community members incur costs such as time, labour and foregone alternative land use (Goodwin & Santilli, 2009) whilst external agencies in most cases provide financial and technical support. The Wilderness Safaris and GZ TRANSFORM for example, have provided the Makuleke community with both financial and technical expertise in the running of CBT ventures in the community (Maluleke, 2018). In return, the Makuleke 42 community opted to set aside the Pafuri region for conservation and ecotourism instead of livestock rearing and diamond mining (Louw, 2010). Having reviewed CBT projects providing accommodation in the Americas and realising that their occupancy was 5%, Mitchell and Muckosy (2008) conclude that such CBT will collapse once funding dries up. Mbaiwa (2004) concludes that the tourism contributions to poverty alleviation in the Okavango Delta in Botswana have been insignificant. In addition, rural communities surrounding Rocktail Bay Lodges in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa did not derive meaningful benefits from the tourism ventures and Ashley et al. (2007) attribute this to the inability of the ventures to compete in the global tourism market and the lack of commercial viability. The nature-based CBT activities pursued by the local communities in partnership with external agencies failed to offer meaningful benefits and this calls for the need to find alternative interventions. This study puts focus on the pursuance of CBT activities that are culturally-based and undertaken by the locals, specifically rural women independent of external agencies and/or with minimum support. Apart from the individual benefits, CBT is characterised by community benefits and these include contributions towards the development of community assets such as schools and clinics. The community incurs costs and hence there is a need to ensure equitable access to the communal resources. Mbaiwa (2004) relates social equity to when all community members have equal opportunity to benefit from the communal resources. He further asserts that the community members should benefit irrespective of their age, race, gender and economic status. Giampiccoli et al. (2015b) note that CBT enterprises should have both individual and community-wide benefits (both direct and indirect). In most cases culturally-based CBT entities are small scale but when properly developed they can become the main community economic activities. CBT activities that are characterised with inclusivity and community wide benefits eliminate jealousy and resentments among community members thereby increasing their chances of success (Shehab, 2011). The nature-based CBT activities are often externally oriented. Trophy hunting in the Malipati Safari Area in Zimbabwe; game viewing, and accommodation offered by luxury camps (Rocktail Bay Lodge in South Africa) tend to alienate the locals because of the high prices charged. Consequently, the locals resent these businesses and the benefits derived are insignificant in stimulating positive behaviour. On the other hand, the culturally-based CBT activities are sensitised to the well-being of the host community and grounded within the communal value systems. This calls for the need to understand the experiences of rural women entrepreneurs to gain entry points to improve their abilities to contribute towards household incomes and aggregate community benefits. 43 3.3.2 Community ownership and participation Suansri (2003) identifies community participation as one of the major characteristics of CBT. The community members have to exercise control of the initiative through active participation in the management and control (whole or in part) of the enterprise. From this perspective, the community shares consciousness, norms and ideology and collaborates on matters that influence their livelihoods. The Koroyanitu National Park in Fiji has facilitated the involvement of the locals through encouraging them to establish their own Ecotourism Cooperative Society Limited (George et al, 2007). The locals who have dedicated their land units make the decisions on land management which has stimulated their desire to conserve. The involvement of the communities in the management of the CBT enterprises results in the existence of mechanisms that link the tourism enterprise and community development. Nonetheless, equitable ownership and participation among community members is unlikely because of gender, class and ethnic factors (Tamir, 2015). Such differences within a community mean that intra-community conflicts are inevitable (Li, 2007). For example, the Chiredzi Rural District Council (CRDC) in Zimbabwe is involved in the CAMPFIRE project and in most cases; there are disagreements on how the revenues collected must be distributed among the villagers and/or the type of project to undertake. Some community members feel that the provision of community assets such as schools and clinics is the responsibility of the government and as such revenue earned from CBT should not be used for these projects. Where there is consensus on the type of project to implement, disagreements can also arise relating to the location which may seem to favour one village over the other. CBT initiatives may either reinforce existing institutions or create new ones and Maluleke (2018) cites the Makuleke community, South Africa where trusts and community associations comprising community members were formed. The community trusts will seek to further the interests of their respective communities (Tamir, 2015). However, minority groups such as women and ethnic minorities‘ interests might be overlooked as the trust will be constituted by that particular community‘s elite and powerful. Ndlovu and Rogerson (2004) conclude that overlooking the interests of the marginalised women and minority groups in community decision making hinders the success of CBT initiatives in developing countries. It is against this background that this study details experiences of rural women in the case communities to appreciate and value their contributions to CBT and the broader tourism industry. 44 3.3.3 Communal resources For the CBT entities to be successful, the local community must have the requisite resources and the Mountain Institute (2000) identifies them as community-based tourism assets. The community-based tourism assets consist of nature-based resources (wildlife, woodlands, scenery), local handicrafts and cultural events (Cooper, 2004); traditions, rural landscape and historical sites (Manwa et al., 2016). These resources are the bedrock that sustain and determine the nature, form and context within which the CBT initiatives will be formulated (Mombeshora & Le Bel, 2009). They can also be categorised as attractions (natural and man- made), accommodation and activities (Boniface et al., 2012). The communities surrounding protected area boundaries are rich in wildlife resources (Manyara & Jones, 2007). The Malipati and Sengwe communities in Zimbabwe, bordering the Gonarezhou National park have a variety of wildlife species . Apart from the natural attractions, rural communities are also endowed with man-made attractions. These include cultural attractions which encompass historical sites, rural customs, traditions and folklore and heritage sites consist of archaeological sites, religious sites, historic houses, forts, plantations and battlefields (Su et al., 2019). A rural community‘s culture makes the community unique, experiential (Mckercher, 2016) and ideal to become tourism products. They further note that a destination can improve its appeal by combining several attractions together. Apart from an amazing waterfall, the Fang CBT, for example, also offers cultural activities that include festivals, traditional dances, traditional wedding ceremonies and local farming techniques that include livestock threshing, hand winnowing and sowing (Tamir, 2015). The attractiveness and competitiveness of the host community as a destination depends on the uniqueness of the cultural attractions; for example, festivals, traditional dances and way of life. From this scenario, rural communities will develop enterprises based on the resources available in their locality. Ateljevic et al. (2008) reveal that the Samoan women made use of the ‗tapa‘ and innovatively created tapa patterns on clothing meant for sale to tourists. They also cite the Langtang women, Nepal who perform cultural dances for the tourists while the Maasai women in Kenya make use of local tree plants to develop crafts for tourists‘ consumption. The varied cultural tourism ventures in these cases consolidate that communities develop tourism products and services aligned to the communities‘ culturally important activities or items. Apart from the existence of tourism assets within a community, the viability of the CBT initiative depends on awareness and the entrepreneurial skills the locals possess to outwit their competition. It is against this background that this research is developed against the need to bring to the fore the entrepreneurial skills of rural women in the case communities. 45 Another part of community-based tourism assets include accommodation which (Huang et al., 2016) outline as playing a facilitative role to the tourist experience. Accommodation provided by rural communities can be an attraction in its own right and includes home stay, tented accommodation and luxurious lodges. The Kelabit people in Bario village situated on the Island of Borneo live in the traditional style longhouse (Asker et al., 2010) and the village‘s appeal to tourists is enhanced by the surrounding rainforests. As part of the homestay, the villagers will dwell with the visitors which enables the latter to experience the community‘s way of living in their own setting. The Chilo Gorge Lodge and the now defunct Mahenye Lodge in Zimbabwe are examples of safari lodges offered by communities in partnership with the private sector (Mudzengi & Chiutsi, 2014). There are a number of activities that visitors can undertake within a rural community and the nature of these activities is influenced by the tourism assets available. The CBT activities relate to the elements of the tourism services available in a rural set up which are offered to the tourist. Okech (2011) cites the village tours undertaken in Nsongwe village, Zambia as an example of a CBT activity. The nature trail that runs through mangrove forests and coral relics offered by Wasini women‘s group in Kwale, Kenya, is another notable CBT activity. Though the type of tourist activity undertaken in a given community relies on the communal resources available (Kiss, 2004); the entrepreneurial behaviour of the locals also plays a pivotal role in determining the same. The tourist activities are not only meant to enhance the community‘s economic well- being but such activities as traditional wedding ceremonies are meant to preserve their societal values and beliefs. Another key community-based tourism asset relates to accessibility. There is a need for the tourists to be able to reach the host community with minimum difficulty. The availability of transport facilities enhances the local community‘s value (Kotler & Keller, 2006). In most cases the central government plays a central role in the provision of transport infrastructure. Nonetheless, Manyara and Jones (2007) note the need to preserve certain environments; for example, the development of tarred road networks within a rural community may result in loss of naturalness and appeal to the tourists. Certain modes of transport used by certain communities such as horse riding, can be attractions. 3.3.4 Collaborative approach Collaboration relates to the interactions between and among parties regarding a common issue of interest (Bramwell & Lane, 2005). CBT enterprises are also characterised by involvement of several players that include the government, private sector, NGOs and the community (Swartbrooke et al., 2003). The stakeholders play different but equally important roles in the 46 viability of the CBT entities and collaboration emanates from insufficiency among the stakeholders (Stone, 2015). The local community might own the tourism resources but lack the financial resources of NGOs. Czernek (2013) concludes that, when stakeholders work together, there is a greater probability of achieving their goals and/or resolving conflicts effectively. Giampiccoli et al. (2015b) assert that the CBT enterprises have to be initiated by the host community and the external players only have to play a facilitative role. The collaboration of stakeholders in the CBT enables the community to derive optimum benefits from the initiative. Scheyvens (2003) alludes that participation of local communities enables them to earn a significant proportion of the economic benefits realised. Stone and Stone (2011) concur with Mitchell and Muckosy (2008) that the failure of most CBTs is a result of a lack of collaboration with the private sector and/or withdrawal of support before the venture is commercially viable. The partnerships with tour operators and hoteliers expose the CBT enterprises to the tourist market while the community members will also benefit from business skills. Goodwin and Santilli (2009) attribute the success of Kahawa Shamba in Tanzania to partnerships with overseas tour operators and support by the Coffee Co-operative. CBT has been touted as being among the indicators of community success (Ngo et al., 2018) and CBT enterprises will benefit expertise and experience. The WTO (2000) notes that the private sector particularly the tour operators, act as facilitators and marketing intermediaries. Rural communities have little knowledge of the global tourism market and tourist demand and the tour operators play an advisory role to further the communities‘ entrepreneurial development. Apart from the remoteness of rural CBT enterprises, they also lack financial resources to undertake market analysis and marketing activities (Sakata & Prideaux, 2013). Resultantly; Notzke (2004) concludes that there is a need for CBT entrepreneurs to engage other stakeholders to make up for their lack of skills and financial resources. However, Bramwell and Lane (2005) point out that the engagement of diverse stakeholders is complex making it difficult to involve them all equally and the tour operators, for example, will be in search of profit making and their involvement will mean leakages. The involvement of external players will be easier when they appreciate the skills possessed by the locals. The identification of rural women‘s skills and/or lack thereof is part of this study. 3.3.5 Reciprocity The CBT enterprise is characterised with mutual learning as it seeks to promote shared educational experiences between the tourists and the host. The management and/ ownership of the tourism enterprise by the community will allow the community to enjoy the tourist income. The existence of the tourism enterprise enables the visitors to learn about a particular 47 community‘s way of life (Purbasari & Manaf, 2018). The assumption is that an increase in the visitors‘ awareness of the values and needs of the community help to build tourism that is more beneficial to the needs, initiatives and opportunities of the host community. From this perspective, the tourists‘ demand for authentic experiences is well met by rural women entrepreneurs because of their inextricable link with the community‘s way of life and the community‘s physical environment in which tourism takes place (Ateljevic et al., 2008). The development of tourism enterprises results in mutual benefits between the tourists and the women entrepreneurs. This study details the supply side analysis of the psychological results (entrepreneurial skills) within a social environment (the case communities) in an engendered perspective. This helps to create and sustain a relationship between the local community and the visitors. Simply put, the characteristics of the CBT enterprises around the globe are different because of the difference in resource endowments among regions. For example, in the USA, the internal community dynamics are a challenge in the successful implementation of CBT initiatives whilst capacity building is the dominant challenge in Cambodia (Giampiccoli et al., 2016). The various contexts and experiences result in the difference in approaches to CBT, however, these characteristics are essential in determining what constitutes a CBT initiative across the globe. 3.4 Approaches to community-based tourism There have been different models of CBT that emanate from the differing definitions of CBT and differences in the degree of community involvement. Pimbert and Pretty (1995) postulated the ladder of community participation; Tosun's (2000) model categorises participation as ranging from coercive to spontaneous; Giampiccoli and Mtapuri's (2012) and Zapata et al.'s (2011), models view community participation as either a bottom-up or top-down approach. Generally, the development of CBT has either been in the form of bottom-up participatory approach and interactive or co-management approach (Giampiccoli et al., 2015a). The approaches are being influenced by the degree of community involvement in the control of the initiatives. The analysis of various approaches to community participation is of priority since it disaggregates the interventions in terms of content, context and implementation which influence the nature of community involvement and the various forms in which CBT has taken shape and scope among the different communities globally. 3.4.1 Bottom-up participatory approach This approach relates to when the community initiates and controls their own community enterprises independent of external agencies such as the government and non-governmental 48 organisations (NGOs) (Giampiccoli et al., 2015b). Murombedzi (2001) refers to this approach as self-mobilisation and asserts that it is based on the supportiveness of the legislature framework of the host government in terms of land ownership. For the development to be truly community driven, host governments have to relinquish more of their power (Kamoto et al., 2013). All the same, the community‘s collective or individual enterprise does not seek to challenge the existing unequitable distribution of wealth and power that exists within communities. Murombedzi (2001) concludes that although the bottom-up participatory approach is desirable, it is hindered by lack of financial and technical expertise on the part of the host communities. Diamantes (2004) gives the Makuleke community in South Africa as one such community that has made significant strides in CBT based on the self-mobilisation approach. The donor community, TRANSFORM, has been limited to the provision of technical expertise whilst decision making remained the prerogative of the community. Tosun (2000) notes that scholars have observed that authentic community participation seldom exists in the development process in general and it is no exception for the CBT. This results in partnerships between the host community and the government and/or non-governmental organisations. 3.4.2 Co-management Basically, co-management is an empowering process in which the local people, in partnership with those able to assist them, identify problems and needs and collectively find ways to enhance their livelihoods. The majority of local communities lack the finance and expertise to initiate and sustain CBT enterprises, which have led donors to initiate the developments (Walker & Moscardo, 2016). Jonga (2003) opines that governments in Southern Africa have been reluctant to devolve powers to the communities fully. As a result, both the governments and the donors have been involved in the initiation and sustainability of CBT projects in various capacities. Thus, the co-management and/or partnerships between the host community and the external agencies such as government and NGOs have taken different forms as a result of the differences in the degree of responsibility that is passed to the community. The communities can partner with external agencies either passively or interactively and these are detailed below. 3.4.2.1 Passive Participation This form of partnership, though it acknowledges that the community‘s input is key in policy formulation, will only provide the community with knowledge relating to what is taking place (Griffiths & Robbin, 1997). This is mostly done to gain the voluntary submission of the community. Child (2004) states that passive participation was adopted during the colonial period in such African states such as Zimbabwe, Namibia and Kenya. He cites the Wildlife New 49 Industries for all (WINDFALL) that was implemented in Zimbabwe in 1978 as one such example that reinforced passive participation. The community was only informed of what was happening and never consulted in the policy formulation. 3.4.2.2 Interactive Participation Reid (1999) explains that interactive participation is when the various actors involved in the community development process share resources and experiences to achieve the desired community goals. The level of power to influence the decision-making process will not be homogenous among all the stakeholders, resulting in differences in the level of interaction and influence of the community. The community‘s participation will be limited to the provision of information in response to the questionnaires and surveys designed by the external agencies (Edgell et al., 2008). In this case, for example, the community will have no influence on the decisions relating to which development process undertake. The community‘s participation will be peripheral and limited to interactions that are aimed at promoting the interests of the external agencies. Most rural communities in developing countries are poor (Jonga, 2003) and the external agencies will entice the communities to accept their initiatives by giving the material incentives. The community will support the development process largely because of the benefits they derive from this. However, if the external agencies, NGOs for example, feel that their interests are compromised they are not compelled to continue financing the initiatives (Manwa, 2003). The initiatives will collapse because the community will not have the incentive to continue supporting them and they will lack the technical know-how and financial muscle to support the processes on their own. Community participation is an attractive theory and comes in a variety of forms in practice. The forms of participation either give the community no real power to influence the development process in their locality (manipulative, passive and/ pseudo) or initiate and have control over the development of tourism enterprises in their locality without coercion and/or heavy involvement of the external agencies (Kontogeorgopoulos et al., 2014). Graci (2013) also supports community involvement in tourism initiatives. This research is rooted in Giampiccoli and Mtapuri's (2012) CBT model. The model postulates that CBT is an alternative development approach and the community must have full control of the tourism enterprise. The researcher followed a gendered human dimension and much of the analysis focused on the entrepreneurial skills (potential and actual) of rural women involved in CBCTV either individually or collectively. 50 3.5 Stakeholder analysis It is important for businesses and entrepreneurs alike to consider others and the possible impact of those who can affect and be affected by the business (Kaler, 2002). CBT stakeholders refers to the individuals or groups involved, interested in and affected (either positively or negatively) by the tourism related entrepreneurial activities (Dabphet & Kamarudin, 2013). The understanding of the stakeholders provides a framework within which CBT can be delivered and Hultman and Hill (2011) note that stakeholders can be identified by their possession of power, legitimacy and urgency. The multiple stakeholders all play different and equally important roles in the sustainability of CBT. The success of any entrepreneurial activity is based on the ability of the entrepreneur(s) to interact with others and acquire resources. The analysis of the impact of the stakeholders goes beyond the financial contributions to encompass relationships and norms of reciprocity among the parties involved. Based on the stakeholders‘ theory, the stakeholders involved in CBTE include the host community, the entrepreneur, government, NGOs, tourists, tourism private players and competitors (Kaler, 2002). 3.5.1 Government This refers to a system or a group of people that is mandated to set and administer public policy and exercise executive, political and sovereign power through customs, institutions and laws within the confined boundaries and/or a given state (Purbasari & Manaf, 2018). The government plays a critical role in ensuring the sustainability of CBTE and the regulatory framework, taxes and subsidies and policies shape the nature and scope of CBTE within a country (Child, 2004). That is, they provide opportunities and incentives that, in turn, influence the community to decide on which project to implement. For instance, the South African government‘s workable policies (Spenceley et al., 2016) and the provision of constitutional rights to communities (Scheyvens, 2003) have been instrumental in CBT activities pursued by the Makuleke community. In addition, the government of Zanzibar has developed and enacted tourism policies and legislation aimed at facilitating the management and supervision of CBT activities (Magigi & Ramadhani, 2013). This has provided a favourable environment for other stakeholders to undertake CBT activities. Saufi et al. (2014) indicate that government actions such as the development of infrastructure should be in tandem with the needs of the host community. The government, through various governmental bodies provides the strategic planning of CBT and infrastructural outline. The policies vary from country to country and overtime, but the major 51 role of government is to avail opportunities and remove constraints to enable CBT initiatives to flourish (Kontogeorgopoulos et al., 2014). The governments are the major initiators and facilitators of collective CBT activities. The supportive policy frameworks provided by governments in most cases outline the extent of community participation, the nature of development and the management and sharing of benefits and costs (Okech et al., 2012). The Malaysian government for example, has provided measures and guidelines that have facilitated the development of CBT enterprises (Kunjuraman & Rosazman, 2016). Consequently, the CBT products in Malaysia include homestays, ecotourism, agritourism, cultural and heritage-based tourism. Such policies as the Malaysia Plan Outline, the Outline of the Tenth Malaysia‘s Economic Transformation Program and the National Tourism Policy have been effective in ensuring that economic benefits are preserved and shared among community members. In this respect, George et al. (2007) explain that government policies, regulations and taxes define the power of communities and their access to training, capital and markets. The local governments provide such utilities and infrastructure as public transport systems, water and sewerage and related amenities that enhance community attractiveness and competitiveness. The government can also impede the attainment of set objectives. For example, the development of Tioman Island in Malaysia has been hindered by government policies that elbowed out locals from participating in the mainstream tourism activities and derive meaningful benefits. Mustapha et al. (2013) observe that the Malaysian government pursued policies that were aimed at developing the Island as an international resort. They cite that the government partnered with the private sector to develop local chalets into a five-star hotel and also there were no stimulus packages or incentives offered to enable the locals to compete with experienced and resourceful entrepreneurs from the mainland of Peninsular Malaysia. Resultantly, the locals were left to earn a living through wage earning and the different forms of tourism activities being dominated by the outsiders (Hanafiah et al., 2013). 3.5.2 NGOs George et al. (2007) define NGOs as not-for-profit organisations that have been established independently of government influences. NGOs have taken a strong interest in resource conservation through involvement and lobbying and have contributed significantly to the sustainability of CBTE. They have contributed much towards emphasising host-visitor interaction, nature and cultural conservation and sensitisation of communities with issues relating to tourism development. NGOs are also involved in the management of CBT initiatives through collaborative partnerships with the host community. Such partnerships ensure that the host community is equipped with 52 skills that will enhance the sustainability of the project. The development work of NGOs positively impacts CBT both directly and indirectly. For instance, the NGOs enable CBT to be cost-competitive through the provision of a unified marketing front for CBT which, in most cases, are small and medium enterprises. The tourism-oriented NGOs are becoming relevant as an alternative and legitimate source of tourism development. The Thailand Community Based Tourism -Institution (CBT-I) for example, that was established in 2008, supports tourism development as a form of poverty reduction in Thailand (Dabphet & Kamarudin, 2013). There are other institutions that assist the local community in areas they are lacking (Kunjuraman & Rosazman, 2016) and they include trade associations and educational institutions. Communities in developing countries need assistance in terms of funding, capacity building, skills and knowledge to sustain operations. The civil service plays a pivotal role in conducting research, rewarding active participants, bringing stakeholders together and assisting the locals in voicing their concerns (Asker et al., 2010). As such, the success of CBT enterprises in Mae Kampang in Malaysia has been attributed to such external support. In addition, the Chobe Enclave Conservation Trust received technical assistance, capacity building and funding from the NGOs that include; the Chobe Wildlife Trust, Kalahari Conservation Trust and World Wildlife Fund (Stone, 2015). The community received US$1.77 million from USAID among other donors, a grant they channelled towards the construction of Ngoma Lodge (Stone, 2015). 3.5.3 Community A community is a group of people located within the same geographical area with a collective local identity (Giampiccoli & Kalis, 2012). It is a social system whose units include community leadership and family structure whose relations are deep rooted in their common heritage or geographical attachment. Such units promote reciprocal social relations and the social capital become crucial in ensuring community competitiveness. The community is part of the tourism product and they also bear the effects of the CBT development more than any other stakeholder (Lyon et al., 2017). This makes the community (both passive and active members) a key stakeholder within the CBT entrepreneurial process. The community‘s participation in CBT has been widely discussed in literature, notably the way that local community members participate in tourism (Tosun, 2000), factors that influence local community participation (Cole, 2006; Tosun, 2000) and approaches to facilitate the host community‘s involvement in tourism (Hampton, 2005; Wearing & McDonald, 2002). This research is using a CBT approach, and this makes it relevant for understanding how residents feel about their community, how they engage visitors and how they utilise communal tourism assets (Lindström & Larson, 2016). The term ‗local community‘ is an umbrella term 53 encompassing active and passive residents, community leaders and second homeowners. This research categorises community members based on the level of participation. Thus, community members can either be the host or the entrepreneur. Such a distinction is important as it reinforces Harwood's (2010) assertion that members within a given community compete with each other, have conflicting interests and different degrees of power to influence decision making. 3.5.3.1 The host CBT enterprises are located on community land, owned by one or more community members and may be controlled by the community (Zapata et al., 2011). From this perspective, passive participants and/or residents actively involved in other sectors must be involved to gain community acceptance. In addition, the residents are also owners of the communal tourism assets (traditions, customs, language, historical and archaeological sites) by virtue of belonging to that community. The tourism product is an amalgam of a number of components (Cooper, 2004); failure of one component, community resentment and/or social ills (robbery), for example may result in the failure of the tourism product as a whole. The CBT enterprise is influenced by the environment in which it operates (Mayaka, 2015) and the host community is part and parcel of the broader environment. The involvement of the host community will ensure that their way of life, values and ideals are respected. The host community has the ability to influence the tourism environment (Tsaur et al., 2006). They will take care of the fragile environments (ecological and cultural) and ensure minimum development and destruction when they derive benefits from the conservation efforts. Though CBT relies heavily on the host community‘s support and goodwill; local residents seldom have real power in tourism planning and management and are often marginalised by the powerful and elite stakeholders (Kiss, 2004; Scheyvens, 2003). Nonetheless, the host community‘s influence on the tourists through social interactions enriches the tourists‘ spiritual feelings and cherishes local culture resources (Tsaur et al., 2006). The CBT approach presents the host community as part of the tourism product and facilitates the host-tourist relationships. The host community is brought into focus as CBT seeks to foster environmental sustainability (Mayaka, 2015). Their involvement results in the host community upholding its societal values and beliefs and having the will to safeguard the communal tourism assets. For example, the tourists visiting Bwejuu village in Zanzibar have to take into account the local community‘s culture and Islamic rules to minimise hostility (Magigi & Ramadhani, 2013). The locals‘ behaviour towards the tourists is a strong indicator of tourism sustainability (Saufi et al., 2014). The tourism industry is dependent on the locals‘ goodwill and trust which is 54 influenced by their perceptions about tourism, previous experiences and anticipated benefits to be gained from their involvement (Saufi, 2013). 3.5.3.2 The entrepreneur An entrepreneur is defined as an individual willing to take the risks in pursuance of opportunities available and rural women, particularly single mothers become entrepreneurs as a way of escaping poverty (Sharif et al., 2017). Rural tourism entrepreneurs, particularly in developing countries, run small businesses such as handicrafts and souvenirs and such participation facilitates the incorporation of community expectations and access to material benefits (Scheyvens, 2003). In this instance, tourism resources within a rural community act as attractions (Sharif et al., 2014) and also provide opportunities for entrepreneurship. As entrepreneurs are innovative (Soare et al., 2017), they find alternative uses of the available economic resources. The emergence of enterprises owned by the locals indicates the willingness of the host community to participate in tourism development and Simpson (2008) states that the local community should play a key role in making decisions, developing and managing tourism resources. The community members‘ participation either individually or collectively will enable them to gain benefits from CBT (Phanumat et al., 2015) and influence the nature of development taking place within their community. The local entrepreneurs will consider the economic benefits and the socio-economic impacts of their actions (Soare et al., 2017). Apart from reducing the economic leakages, local entrepreneurs also promote the host community‘s identity to tourists (Ryan et al., 2012). Saufi (2013) cites the Towa Furusato Mura in Tokyo as a CBT enterprise that provides information about attractions and also sells local people‘s products. In this instance, the local products being sold represent this small rice farming village‘s identity. This means that the entrepreneurs are critical in the development of the economic potential and determining the direction of development of rural communities (Sharif et al., 2014). Similarly, an understanding of rural women entrepreneurs‘ experiences in the case communities help to spell out how they are influencing community development and sustaining the community‘s cultural elements. 3.5.4 The Market This consists of the private sector and the media whose major role is to provide market opportunities for CBT. Tourism trade associations are also part of the market as they play a key role in product testing and linking communities to markets through networking (Phanumat et al., 2015). The intermediaries, especially tour operators, play a pivotal role in ensuring the viability 55 of the CBT enterprises. They have the financial muscle and skills to conduct market research and they offer various promotional strategies on a global scale. Tour operators in Bwejuu village in Zanzibar are involved in transport, accommodation bookings, catering, excursion, entertainment arrangements, marketing and promotion activities (Magigi & Ramadhani, 2013). In most cases these actions are self-initiated as the tour operators are aimed at profit. Travel agents also undertake marketing and promotion as well as transport, air-ticketing, booking and reservations. The private sector, particularly tour operators, have to engage the host community in developing tourist activities as this increases participation and community access to benefits (Saufi et al., 2014). This is contrary to Cole's (2006) assertion that the host community‘s involvement is hindered by centralised decision-making processes and the reluctance of the private sector to involve the locals. 3.5.5 The tourist Both potential and actual tourists are key in CBT as they provide a stimulus to run the enterprise through income support (More & Stevens, 2000). There is mutual learning among the tourists, the entrepreneur and the hosts which enhances the tourists‘ experience while encouraging the locals that need to sustain the communal tourism assets. However, the influx of tourists also has a negative impact on the local community. The tourism businesses need to identify the tourists‘ demands and priorities in terms of the motives, safety and health concerns. A proper understanding of the tourists‘ needs helps to tailor-make the tourism products in the case of cultural-based CBT products, which are not specifically meant for the tourists. The cultural- based tourism products are deeply entrenched in the host community‘s local culture which the tourists might not be accustomed to, which calls for the tourism intermediaries to educate the tourists about expected behaviours and expected performance. Education and awareness help the tourists to adhere to accepted behaviours. More so, the tourism product is co-created by the tourists and the service providers. The tourists‘ understanding of acceptable behaviours is imperative in the delivery of memorable experiences. In summary, there are multiple stakeholders involved in CBT and their interactions either make or break the tourism product. Each stakeholder plays an equally important role and the collaborations among the stakeholders have been noticeable within the CBT enterprises. Although the study focused on the experiences of rural women involved in culturally-based CBTE, the activities of other stakeholders cannot go unnoticed and will be used to aid explanations and the way that rural women‘s experiences have unfolded. The relationships between the entrepreneurs and other tourism stakeholders are invaluable for product development, marketing, delivery of quality tourist experiences and capacity building (Asker et al., 2010). 56 3.6 State of CBT in Southern Africa Despite the fact that Southern Africa is rich in physical and socio-cultural tourism resources, socio-economic inequalities have led to high poverty rates and distorted resource use especially in rural communities. As a result, local communities, especially those close to tourism resorts and parks, feel excluded and alienated from access to resources both for their enjoyment and survival (Mearns, 2012; Wolmer, 2005). Rural women are innovatively embracing the tourism spaces to derive socio-economic benefits through the exploitation of cultural resources. 3.6.1 Development Community-Based tourism provided local communities with a platform to participate in tourism activities and a means to earn income to supplement their agricultural activities (Ashley, 2000; Goodwin & Santilli, 2009; Spenceley, 2008). The majority of the CBT ventures are located close to areas rich in wildlife resources (Child, 2004; Mearns, 2012). In Zimbabwe, for example, the Appropriate Authority status was given to communal areas that are rich in wildlife resources. The Mahenye community in Chiredzi district is a notable example and its proximity to the Gonarezhou National Park enables tourists to visit them. The CAMPFIRE project in essence was meant to ensure that the communities benefit from the wildlife resources on a local scale. The other notable examples of communities involved in CBT and located in proximity to national parks are the Chobe enclave community close to Chobe national Park in Botswana (Stone, 2015), the Kunene community close to Torra Conservancy in Namibia (Ashley, 2000) and the Makuleke community close to the Kruger National Park in South Africa (Maluleke, 2018). Saarinen and Rogerson (2015) conclude that CBT activities in Southern Africa are anchored on nature and wildlife resources. It is imperative to note that the nature-based orientation has been a result of the government policies and NGOs offering support for communities to develop ventures that fulfil their conservation goals. Many of the CBT enterprises are located in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Tanzania in that order while there were no CBT ventures in the DRC and Angola (Mearns, 2012). South Africa‘s dominance in establishing the greatest number of CBT enterprises is a result of an enabling legislative framework, establishment of CBT guidelines (Spenceley et al., 2016) and donor support (Shehab, 2011). Political instability thwarted the development of CBT enterprises in the DRC and Angola (Mearns, 2012). Ivanovic (2015) states that the Southern Africa region has abundant cultural tourism resources, and these can be used to complement nature-based tourism activities. Cultural tourism in Southern Africa has been on the rise, partly as a means to tap the cultural tourism niche that 57 accounts for forty percent of the global leisure travel (Novelli, 2015). The development of culturally-based tourism enterprises has been limited to regions where tourism is already developed (Salazar, 2012) mainly as a way to diversify the tourism economies (Saarinen & Rogerson, 2015). Mgonja et al. (2015) posit that the enterprises that were developed were of different sizes and with different ownership structures. Culturally-based tourism enterprises were developed because of the need to eradicate poverty among communities (Manyara & Jones, 2007). However, despite the growth opportunities of these ventures, many collapsed once external support was withdrawn (Mgonja et al., 2015) and resulted in the outward migration of the entrepreneurs who initiated the project. The development of culturally-based tourism enterprises facilitates the diversity of the tourism product offered by rural communities thereby improving destination competitiveness (Manwa et al., 2016). Consequently, this research focuses on the entrepreneurial skills of rural women to inform their skills and development of ventures that are grass-root generated. 3.6.2 Governance Governments, through the various government departments continue to play a dominant role in the management and development of the CBT initiatives in Southern Africa. While a shared framework that is more accountable to local livelihoods is more desirable, Shackleton et al. (2002) note that there is substantive state control rather than a genuine shift in authority to the local people. They cite the case of the Makuleke community in South Africa who restored the land back but the right to use the tourism resources is restricted to non-consumptive tourism only. Government control is further exerted in the distribution of the financial benefits. In the majority of cases the financial benefits allocated to the communities involved in the CAMPFIRE project in Zimbabwe fell short of their expectations (Child, 2004) and thus was unable to maintain local enthusiasm. In this instance, the financial revenue for the CAMPFIRE was obtained from licenses, permits and leases. Apart from collecting the revenues, the Zimbabwean government through the local district councils also does the distribution of the revenue, which Child (2004) understands as disproportionate and hardly aids household livelihoods. Louw (2010) also observes that the nature-based CBT in the Makuleke community has been unable to positively alter the livelihoods of most community members. Contrastingly, there are exceptional cases like the Chobe Enclave Trust, Botswana which received considerable benefits in 2002. The central governments in Southern Africa have retained land rights in the majority of cases. It is interesting to note that although the Makuleke community, South Africa regained their land 58 through restitution (Spenceley, 2008) they, however, cannot practise subsistence hunting over the same. This means that resource use is constrained. The Botswana Land Board and the local communities had agreed on fifteen-year leases over controlled hunting areas. Though a noble initiative, Shackleton et al. (2002) conclude that the time frame is too short to stimulate investment. In Namibia, land rights remained in the hands of government departments, and the local people were given proprietary rights over resources (especially wildlife). The actions of the local people will still be guided by the state agencies and the government determines the quotas and, for example, pot poaching is prohibited. As such the land restitution and subsequent CBT projects have been developed in a community-wide context and for a national objective (conservation) that however, failed to involve the locals fully (Murphree, 2000). 3.7 Chapter summary The literature reveals that local communities play an important role in the development of tourism products and services within rural economies. Tourism studies that focused on CBT have defined a number of stakeholders that are involved, citing the multi-stakeholder collaborations. The current research extends the understanding of culturally-based CBT and the contributions of women entrepreneurs towards household livelihoods and rural economies in general. The position of the current research within the existing literature is summarised by the figure below: 59 Figure 3-1: Context of women entrepreneurs within the rural economy Tourism Adopted from (Hultman & Hill, 2011; Sullivan & Meek, 2012) Figure 3-1 indicates that the main sources of rural livelihoods in Southern Africa are agriculture, mining, rural-urban trade, tourism, and remittances. The current research explains gender as a form of social power through highlighting the experiences of women entrepreneurs involved in cultural-based CBT ventures. The focus in this case is on women‘s entrepreneurship both as an economic activity and a social process. The understanding of female entrepreneurship with a cultural bias provides a clearer explanation of the economic realities faced by women entrepreneurs when they develop tourism products and services. The performance of rural women is embedded in the traditions and beliefs of the case communities. The experiences, 60 knowledge and skills in CBT as an economic activity are shaped by reproductive duties and societal values. In the next chapter, the researcher describes the methodology, detailing the case setting, qualitative research instruments and the ethical considerations that shape the study. 61 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY 4.1 Introduction The literature review provided the basis for understanding tourism entrepreneurship in developing countries and positioned local communities as tourism destinations and hosts that actively contribute towards tourism development through CBTE. The current study focuses on the experiences of rural women as tourism entrepreneurs, in sustaining CBT ventures in selected case communities. This helps to build knowledge relating to how skills are acquired, retained and further developed which facilitates identification of skills gaps. An analysis of rural women‘s entrepreneurial skills also helps in finding entry points to improve the quality of the overall tourism product and experiences in rural communities, improve enterprise performance and enhance sustainability of cultural tourism resources in communal areas. This chapter outlines the research process and the steps that were followed throughout the study. It discusses the methods that were used for data collection and analysis, the study population, the study area and the ethical considerations that guided the researcher in this study. This chapter clarifies the methodological approach the researcher adopted and the different data collection methods that were used in gathering the empirical data. 4.2 Research design This research was conducted from an engendered perspective and looked in detail at rural women‘s entrepreneurship within the rural set-up in which they reside. In particular, the study sought to unearth the extent to which rural women are equipped to initiate, manage and run tourism ventures. This was done from an informed point of view that the selected case communities are endowed with tourism resources (physical capital) (Chiutsi & Mudzengi, 2012) and household livelihoods will be enhanced if the resources are used optimally. Whilst the researcher agrees with the notion that reality is subjective, he also considers the fact that each case is unique and thus the entrepreneurial process of rural women in the selected communities is unique. Whilst women‘s experiences differ because of background, ethnicity and education, this study stimulates social change through appreciating the ability of rural women to sustain their ventures whilst acting as a point of reference for future entrepreneurial development processes. As such, this study is case study based and focusing on that participation of rural women as entrepreneurs in the development of CBCTV. 62 4.3 Case Setting The research was conducted within the disciplines of community-based tourism (CBT) and rural entrepreneurship with rural women as dominant players. The study sought to understand the way rural women utilise cultural-based CBT resources and how such actions influence rural household livelihood by using the case study approach. The case study approach relates to an empirical investigation of a contemporary phenomenon within a real-life context using observation and interviews (Yin, 2014). Komppula (2014) indicates that a case study enables the researcher to gain an in-depth understanding of a case being studied. The cases were not only a representative of similar cases but representative of themselves. The research was carried out in the Sengwe (Zimbabwe) and Makuleke (South Africa) communities between January and April 2019, with the aim of soliciting information concerning the problem under study from a local perspective by visiting and interacting with rural women in their locality. Apart from the historical displacements that were suffered by both communities in 1975 and 1969, they are also located at the fringes of the GNP and KNP respectively (Louw, 2010; Muzeza, 2013). The communities have managed to maintain their cultural identities, norms and values and these striking similarities informed the researcher to select them as cases. The selection of these communities was also premised on the knowledge and understanding that they are rich in communal tourism resources (Child, 2004). The Sengwe and Makuleke communities‘ tourism resources include wildlife (as a result of their proximity to the Gonarezhou and Kruger national parks respectively), heritage sites, authentic rural life experiences and cultural values held of esteem by the community members. Despite the richness in tourism resources and their participation in CBT, the communities are the most impoverished in their respective countries (Mahony & Van Zyl, 2001; Muzeza, 2013). This precipitated the researcher to have a supply side focus on rural entrepreneurship with an engendered bias towards CBCTV. The selection of the case communities is also informed by the fact that the Sengwe and Makuleke communities are part of the GLTP and ought to participate in the tourism activities within the conservation area. The CBCTV are ideal both in complementing the nature-based activities and to involve rural women in the mainstream tourism industry. There has been concerted effort to involve both the Sengwe and Makuleke communities and ensure that they derive benefits from the tourism resources in their locality through their involvement in the GLTP. From this perspective, it is ideal to gain an understanding on whether rural women who constitute the majority of the population have the skills to utilise and derive benefits effectively from the communal tourism resources. The selected communities have a lot in common which made it easier to conduct the research. Muboko (2011) further notes that the Sengwe and Makuleke communities are culturally related and the VaTsonga ethnic grouping is dominant in 63 both communities. Apart from the colonial park boundaries that separate them, the two communities share a similar tourism resource base (natural and cultural resources). Furthermore, both communities are characterised by strong communal ownership of natural and cultural resources which are the necessities of rural tourism entrepreneurship (Muzeza, 2013). The cultural similarities and identical ecological practices enabled the researcher to broaden the research area and draw more participants with similar characteristics. CBT entrepreneurship is largely a complex and challenging field because it is undertaken based on several discourses and influenced by several stakeholders (Section 3.5). Resultantly, any conclusions have to be based on a specific case area. The selection of the case communities helps to justify the resultant conclusions relating to CBT entrepreneurship skills of rural women as scientifically testable. Spenceley (2008) notes that CBT is multidimensional and differs in both shape and scope and the analysis of the case communities helped to concurrently analyse and discuss the findings of the entrepreneurial skills of rural women involved in CBT in different socio-economic backgrounds. The concurrent analysis of the case communities removes time differences relating to resource availability which helps in drawing conclusions In addition, the entrepreneurial skills involve practical activities and fieldwork was key in understanding how and why the activities are conducted. The Sengwe and Makuleke communities offered a societal laboratory from which the researcher was able to examine the entrepreneurial skills of rural women and how such have an influence on rural livelihoods. The GLTP has offered the communities high expectations relating to the upliftment of their livelihoods and these will only be attained when the communities have the requisite skills to tap into the opportunities availed by the GLTP. As supported by Yin (2012), the case study approach provided an in-depth analysis of the entrepreneurial skills that rural women involved in CBT are endowed with. That is, it facilitated a deep investigation of the real-life contemporary phenomenon in a natural setting. Both objective method of measurement and the detailed probing of attitudes and background of villagers were made possible due to concentrated and the intensive skill nature of the case study approach. The Makuleke community is organised and there are individuals assigned as research assistants. Having understood the nature of my research, the traditional leadership assigned me a male research assistant. He had previous experience in conducting interviews and translations. More so, the research assistant is held with regard in the community which made it easier for us to recruit the participants. The key determinant in the selection process of both research assistants was their ability to socialise as this was key in soliciting relevant data. The literacy levels were also considered in the selection process to ensure that correct translations and interpretations were made. The use of research assistants helped in capturing the views of 64 the participants as the researcher took a passive participatory role limited only to guiding the course of the research process and observations. Thus, the researcher was viewed as a person of weakness which reduced the perception of the researcher‘s position as powerful and knowledgeable. Consequently, the participants treated the researcher as their student during the interactions. 4.4 Methods of research The study was based on observed and subjective phenomena and derived knowledge from actual experience rather than from theory or belief. In this instance, observations were made regarding the nature of tourism entrepreneurial activities being undertaken by rural women. Nonetheless, the motive behind such activities is highly subjective. A qualitative analysis was used as the researcher sought to ascertain the actual and/or perceived skills set of rural women involved in CBTE. This was addressed through the interpretation and observation of the participants‘ social experiences (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011). 4.4.1 Qualitative Research This relates to research methods that give rise to non-quantitative information often involving the use of human intuition and judgement to reach certain conclusions relating to the question under study (Brunt, 1998). The research was of qualitative nature involving the use of human intuition and judgement (Chiutsi & Mudzengi, 2012) to examine the experiences and perceptions of realities in order to gain an understanding of rural women‘s entrepreneurial skills (Klijs & Camargo-borges, 2017). Rural women‘s experiences and perceptions encompass their motives behind initiating the tourism ventures (both formal and informal), current enterprise performance (actual and perceived) and how they are conducting their operations. Such data was only obtained qualitatively due to the poor record keeping that characterises the operations of rural enterprises especially the informal ones. Entrepreneurial skills are innate and cannot be quantified statistically and the use of human intuition and judgement facilitated conclusions to be drawn regarding the entrepreneurial skills of rural women. Myers (2013) argues that qualitative research is ideal when there is not much research published on that topic. Previous research relating to CBTE has focused more on the implementation framework (Spenceley, 2008) and challenges faced (Child, 2004) thus ignoring the gender perspective and the competitive advantages of destinations based on human and social capital. The qualitative analysis of the entrepreneurial skills of rural women based on their experiences and perceptions was crucial in unlocking their competitiveness in the utilisation of tourism resources in the globally competitive tourism sector. In this regard, the researcher was 65 able to obtain rich information about rural women entrepreneurs‘ experiences, motivations, behaviours, needs and aspirations relating to CBTE. The use of qualitative methods in collecting data provides a voice to the marginalised; rural women entrepreneurs whose experiences, perceptions and knowledge have often been overlooked (Smith, 2008). Berg (2007) asserts that qualitative research examines individuals from their own social setting that provides a more personal perspective as rural women answered research questions whilst conducting their daily work. The insights and deeper understanding on the study subjects‘ experiences were obtained in their natural setting. In addition, the researcher was able to explore rural women‘s reflections on their social reality (feelings, behaviour, and experiences) while sustaining household livelihoods using cultural tourism resources (Holloway & Wheeler, 2013) which led to the detailed understanding of the participants‘ experiences (Smith, 2018). The researcher played an active part in the research by observing, talking to, recording narratives and interpreting rural women‘s unique situations (Bryman & Bell, 2015). This further provided an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon under study. 4.4.2 Pilot study The complex nature of gathering data relating to the experiences of rural women entrepreneurs involved in the development of cultural-based CBT ventures within their own communities posed the need to make necessary preparations before gaining access to the case communities (Cypress, 2017). A pilot study was conducted in Chikombedzi in Zimbabwe and the community was chosen because it comprises the same ethnic grouping as the case communities and also borders the Gonarezhou National Park. This shapes the experiences of the entrepreneurs in the same manner as in the case communities. The piloting was done to become familiar with the fieldwork environment, identify potential challenges that are likely to be faced during the research, pre-test the interview questions and make necessary adjustments (Forero et al., 2018). Interviews were conducted with five entrepreneurs involved in crafts tourism in Chikombedzi. The interviews were a platform for the research assistant to familiarise with the context of CBT entrepreneurship and understand the objectives of the research (Choi et al., 2012). In addition, the pilot study helped the research assistant to become familiar with the research environment, translating the research questions from English to Shangaan, identifying ways to probe further and the likely questions that will help to get more details. The participants were also asked to highlight the questions that need clarification and their views regarding the interview style, timing and flexibility. The participants commented that the research questions were 66 comprehensive but called for the need to further simplify the research questions. The research questions were further simplified. The pilot study results revealed that the meaning of the research questions was not lost during the translations and the questions were easy to comprehend whilst ways to further probe the participants were revealed. To this end, the pilot study ensured that the research instruments gathered relevant data. 4.5 Research Participants This study focuses on rural women located in the Sengwe (Zimbabwe) and Makuleke (South Africa) communities who run tourism enterprises as individuals or in groups. The study only considered rural women who have sustained such enterprises (formal and informal) for the past two years or more. The ability to sustain a business requires a skill, and the research sought to unearth such skills that have enabled the women to sustain the ventures. The research was limited to those rural women already running the CBCTV because they have much experience and perceptions which will be worth sharing and much research has only related to nature- based CBT enterprises (Chiutsi & Saarinen, 2017; Saarinen & Rogerson, 2015). 4.6 Recruitment of Participants The population is the group of interest to the researcher, (Gay & Airasian, 2003), that is, the group to which the results of the study are to be generalisable. The study was limited to perspectives from rural women involved in cultural-based CBT ventures only; this allowed the confrontation of systematic injustice based on gender and raised awareness of women‘s needs (Cypress, 2017). The participants were recruited by purposive and snowballing sampling. The study population was chosen through a purposive sampling of rural women involved in CBT ventures in the Sengwe (Zimbabwe) and Makuleke (South Africa) communities. Bernard (2006) asserts that, in purposive sampling, the researcher decides the purpose of the study and locates participants to serve those purposes. Purposive sampling was chosen because of the in-depth nature of the investigation (Neuman, 2006), the study population is hard to reach and the researcher is of the opinion that the sample will meet its own criteria (Jennings, 2010). The research participants who had established their tourism ventures in the Sengwe and Makuleke villages and belonged to these communities were selected. The villages were chosen because of their proximity to the chiefs‘ residence which made it easier to reach the participants considering the lack of transport servicing intra-village routes. The traditional authorities provided the researcher with accommodation for the duration of the study and the shortage of transport within the case communities limited the research to the selected villages. 67 The participants were first located using the snowballing technique; the traditional authorities and the research assistants assisted in the identification of first participants. In snowball sampling, the already known rural women entrepreneurs (identified by the research assistants and the traditional authorities) were the key informants and helped to locate others who would be research participants (Bernard, 2006). Since most rural women maintain social relationships and networks with other compatriots, the researcher made use of the social relationships and networks among the participants to get more participants. This sampling method enabled the researcher to have the ideal number of participants as it allowed the inclusion of participants who might not have been registered formally with their respective national tourism organisations but are actively involved in CBTE, located in the periphery or might simply have been overlooked by the informants. The snowball technique led to the identification of 30 participants and probing of new participants continued until there were no more new names of possible participants. The saturation ensured that the results reflect on the views of the study population hence improving the research‘s credibility. Table 4-1 summarises the study population. Table 4-1: The research’s target population Venture description Total population Selection method Sengwe Makuleke Crafts 4 8 Purposive & Snowball Food 9 4 Purposive and Snowball Spiritual 3 2 Purposive Total 16 14 Table 4-1 indicates that a total of thirty participants were identified in this study in both communities. The food operations and crafts tourism had the majority of the participants. The entrepreneurs in both communities were open to introduce me to their fellow entrepreneurs. This reinforces Spenceley‘s (2008) conclusion that the VaTsonga people are a cohesive grouping with closely knit social ties and relationships. Such relationships are noted when Nhlamulo, a food operator in the Sengwe community introduced me to Wizanani, a crafts entrepreneur in the Makuleke community. Wizanani further introduced me to more participants in the community and their locations. 68 A familiarisation visit was made to each contact before the commencement of the data collection process. The visits were much easier in the Makuleke community as the village settlement pattern is organised and homesteads close to each other. The homesteads in the Sengwe community are sparse and most of the participants were identified at the business centre where their entrepreneurial ventures are located. The visits were meant to locate the participants, analyse whether they met the research selection criteria, soliciting the participants‘ consent to participate in the study and scheduling interview dates. 4.7 Research instruments The collection of data was exploratory and aimed at establishing the entrepreneurial skills of rural women in the selected communities. Primary data was collected using semi structured interviews and these were complemented by participant observation. The participants were recruited among rural women who have sustained both formal and informal tourism enterprises in the Sengwe (Zimbabwe) and Makuleke (South Africa) communities. 4.7.1 Semi-structured Interviews The participants‘ consent to participate in the study was solicited when the researcher first identified and made contact with the participants. The interview dates were also scheduled once the identified entrepreneurs had agreed to participate in the study. The participants were reminded of their right to withdraw from the study at any time during the study before the scheduled interviews began. The researcher further sought consent from the participants and obtained agreement, verbal or otherwise, relating to tape recording and other tools that the researcher used to capture data. The majority of the participants were not comfortable being tape recorded and this led the researcher to resort to taking notes. They expressed that their identity will be revealed as their voices can be easily recognised within the community. The participants were comfortable with photographs of themselves, their homes and their products being taken which was greatly appreciated by the researcher. The photographs summarise a certain point under discussion and also provided a pictorial illustration which further helped in providing an explanation. They were also used later on in the findings chapter to compare and add a rich observational view. The research assistants were locals who spoke the same language as the participants, were familiar with the local culture and relationships among the participants which contributed immensely to the success of the study. The researcher anticipated deviations during the conversations and hence came up with a Semi-Structured Interview Schedule (SSIS) format. The structure of the SSIS that was used to collect the data from individual rural women entrepreneurs is shown in Annexure I. Nicholls 69 (2009) points out that an interview guide ensures that all the important topics are covered. The SSIS was structured to gather data relating to demographic characteristics, tourism enterprise performance and product range, experiences and perceptions of rural women in tourism enterprises, impact of tourism enterprises to household livelihood, programmes to encourage rural women entrepreneurship and decision-making abilities of rural women involved in CBT ventures. The SSI guide enabled the research assistants to plan and identify areas they have covered and what needs to be done. The SSIS were prepared in English and translated into Shangaan (annexure XI), the local language by the research assistants. This was necessitated by the participants‘ desire to be interviewed in Shangaan and/or having no or limited knowledge of English, at the time of the interview. Although such participants as Lirhando, a food operator in the Makuleke community acknowledged that they use English to communicate with international tourists, the researcher noted that the use of Shangaan enables the participants to express their issues indepth. In most cases the participants were able to freely express self-relating data to personal issues in a local language. The use of the local language in collecting the empirical material, through the interviews also helped to ensure the trustworthiness and authenticity of the study. The research assistants conducted the interviews and the researcher took notes based on observations made and would highlight areas that need clarification based on the participant‘s facial expression or some observed aspects. The interview sessions, by their nature, were flexible and the participants would leave the discussions at times to prepare meals for the family, undertake childcare and other daily household chores. The research assistants did not follow the order of the questions in the guide but would rather introduce a topic when it appeared appropriate. Each interview was approximately one hour long. Nonetheless, the researcher spent the whole day at each participant‘s homestead and/or workplace and consequently would not disrupt the participants from conducting their daily tasks. All the interviews were scheduled to start at midday to allow the participants to complete their chores that include sweeping the yard, washing dishes, fetching water and preparing breakfast for the family. The researcher would arrive for the interview during the morning to allow time to settle and familiarise ourselves with the interviewees. The scheduling of the interviews facilitated our immersion into the household set- up and the involvement of the local research assistants made the participants comfortable and willing to share their experiences in relation to the CBT ventures. In the case of Nhlamulo, Rhulani, Ntateko and Miyetani, repeated visits were made to gain more insights relating to their skills in conducting their operations. The repeated visits were prompted by the desire to get an in-depth understanding of their operations which comprised several tasks that took several days 70 to be completed. Having more time with the research participants resulted in minimum control over the participants‘ responses and ensured that all the data relevant to the study is gathered. Bernard (2006) postulates that minimum control over the participants‘ responses led to participants opening up and expressing themselves freely in their own terms and at their own pace. The interviews were conducted at their facilities which, in most cases, were located at their homesteads, to gain a better understanding of their operations. The face-to-face interview method helped the researcher in gaining an in-depth view of rural women‘s tourism ventures because the interviews gave a deeper insight into the general ‗state of affairs' of an individual‘s enterprise in terms of performance and product range. The participants were able to express their points by showing physical objects. For example, the food operators will show the nature of the equipment that they use, how they prepare their food and methods of storing the different kinds of food. The personal contact with rural women established a confidential basis and this made the participants give sincere answers and the researcher was able to gather information on household livelihoods which is sensitive (Bernard, 2006). It must also be noted that rural women entrepreneurs are a heterogeneous group. From the researcher‘s standpoint the differences among the participants are a result of different beliefs and backgrounds. The differences among the participants also emanate from the fact that the rural women are part of the case communities due to marriages and hence the historical experiences shape their behaviours and skills differently. The participants also have different status or positions of power within the society. In the case communities, the older women are held with high regard and the same applies to relationships among the women as aunties. Such positions of power both within the household and at community level constrain one‘s behaviour and decision-making abilities. The differences were also a result of the fact that they lived in different locations within the Sengwe and Makuleke communities, run different tourism ventures and some initiated the enterprises either individually or collectively. This made it worthy to unlock everyone‘s experiences and also discover innate aspects of the participants‘ lives through making use of the semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted individually and during each participant‘s own free time and space of choice which helped them in opening up about their venture performances, contributions to livelihood and their personal experiences which they were likely not to share when they were asked in a group. Interviews enabled the researcher to elicit replies from the individual entrepreneur‘s perspective without asking leading or confusing questions. There was mutual exchange of information and experiences between the researcher and the participants (Jennings, 2010). The face-to-face interviews also enabled the researcher to observe the participants‘ surroundings in terms of the 71 equipment used whilst ensuring in-depth discussions with the participants (Neuman, 2006). The study was aimed at understanding the entrepreneurial skills and experiences of rural women, which required in-depth conversations. In this study, personal interviews were used to elicit the participants‘ accounts of meanings, experiences, and perceptions which produced narrative data in the participants‘ own spoken words (Phungwayo & Mogashoa, 2014). These interviews were complemented by participant observation and follow up sessions (informal conversations and unstructured interviews). 4.7.2 Participant Observation This involves the systematic observation and recording of people‘s behaviour, activities and interactions in their natural setting (Creswell, 2013). The immersion of the researcher in a social setting during a specific period facilitated observations and listening to the participants (Atkinson, 2001) thereby enabling him to experience and appreciate the culture of the social setting being investigated. The observation method enabled the researcher to grasp the actual situation on the ground and generate data that might have been overlooked during interviews or by already generated reports (Yin, 2014). Such data helped in cross-checking data gathered from semi-structured interviews. Atkinson (2001) observes that it is impossible to study the world without being part of it. In this case, the researcher volunteered to participate in other tasks that include cutting firewood and washing dishes in the food operations business. The tasks performed did not have much disruption on the core activities of the venture and would be flexible enough to stop them and make necessary observations. For example, he could easily stop cutting firewood since they were in preparation for the next day and make observations of how participants welcomed the guests and served the food. The willingness to participate in these tasks further reinforced the researcher‘s position as a student which helped in the participants opening up and sharing more detail of their operations and resultant outcomes. Much of the social life is conducted unintentionally and habitually (Haldrup & Larsen, 2010) and rural tourism entrepreneurship is no exception which might result in differences between what the participants say and what they do. The researcher took cognisance of the fact that each person‘s perspectives are influenced by contextual factors that include cultural, experiential and environmental influences. To build the participants‘ confidence and willingness to participate in the research process, the trustworthiness model proposed by Lincoln and Guba cited in Thomas and Magilvy (2011) was used. The model asserts that credibility, transferability, dependability and neutrality are key components that are relevant for qualitative research. In this instance the researcher sought to present an accurate interpretation of rural women‘s experiences. Informant feedback was also 72 provided and the involvement of the researcher in the data gathering process helped to ensure cooperation from the participants. Qualitative approaches are ideal for helping the researcher to understand the nature and meaning of reality through reporting detailed views of informants obtained in a natural setting (Joubish & Khirram, 2011). Special emphasis was given on processes and meanings that shape the entrepreneurial skills of rural women that are not rigorously examined and measured in terms of quantity, amount and frequency. The processes were important because rural women are faced with scarce resources which they have to use economically to sustain their household livelihoods. As such, the processes indicate the use of the best skills set that rural women have in utilising the resources at their disposal. 4.7.3 Informal conversations The informal conversations were made with the CRDC and MCPA officials to get an overview of communities‘ dynamics, state of tourism development, type of tourism resources and identification of first participants. The researcher also interacted with the participants after the completion of the semi-structured interviews. The informal conversations were triggered when the researcher observed certain phenomena that needed further clarification from the participants. The notes summarised the conversation and valuable information was gathered from the informal conversations with the participants. More so, they helped in building rapport with the participants and the community members at large. 4.8 Reliability and validity The reliability (consistency, dependability and replicability) and validity (trustworthiness, utility and acceptability) of the research results is important and it was achieved through the documentation of the research results (Zohrabi, 2013). The recording of information ensured consistency in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data. The use of the semi-structured interview guide (see Annexure I) enabled the researcher to ask the study subjects similar questions. The participants‘ narratives were written down during the interviewing process and photographs taken for aspects of interest which made it possible to relive and reanalyse the data gathered after the completion of the fieldwork. The reliability of the gathered data was further enhanced through the deliberate selection of rural women entrepreneurs in the selected case communities as research participants. Similar studies can be replicated either in the same case communities or elsewhere with similar research subjects. Nonetheless, it is prudent to note that the qualitative nature of the research process inhibits duplication (Merriam, 2009). Human 73 behaviour is hardly static; the same participants might be reluctant to be involved in a similar study in future which alters the research results. The quality and acceptability of this study was influenced by a pilot study, prolonged study of the participants and the use of multiple research instruments (Berger, 2015). The pilot study that was conducted in Chikombedzi, Chiredzi prior to the actual research process helped the researcher to refine the research questions, anticipate likely problems and identify ways to solve them. All this enhanced the validity of the gathered data. The validity of the data was improved through the use of semi-structured interviews and participant observation to collect relevant data (Morse & McEvoy, 2014). The use of multiple techniques to collect the data is informed by the multidisciplinary nature of the study. That is, culturally-based CBT is a socio-economic process that includes multiple activities (food operations, crafts tourism and spiritual tourism) and participant experiences are different even within one activity because of the time factor among other variables. The data was collected from these multiple culturally-based activities and the multiple sources are instrumental in confirming the results and unearthing the different meanings of reality within culturally-based tourism entrepreneurship. In addition, the researcher resided in the case communities for a period of four months. This improved the quality of the research process as the prolonged stay enabled the researcher to gain an understanding of the cultural dynamics. The extended stay also facilitated the observation of changes in entrepreneurial activities and and the way that the participants balance their entrepreneurial activities with the domestic chores and as well as being able to accurately conclude on the value attached to CBCTV. This greatly improved the interpretation of data. The researcher also took into account his own bias as an attempt to ensure validity of the research process. The literature study of the case communities coupled with the researchers‘ own values and views about CBT influenced the researcher‘s perception of the case communities. Nonetheless, the researcher gathered the data guided by the research ethics and principles he acquitted himself before undertaking the fieldwork. The subsequent analysis and interpretation of the findings was presented accurately and honestly, guided by the participants‘ narratives and relevant literature was used to reinforce and critic the research findings. 4.9 Methodological reflections This section provides insights of the context in which the research was carried out as it explains the data collection process, how the researcher gained access to the case communities and the difficulties that were encountered during the research. 74 4.9.1 Gaining access The dual administrative nature of the case communities meant that consent had to be solicited from the traditional authorities as well. The permission granted by the CRDC (Annexure VII) and the MCPA (Annexure VIII) provided access to the communities and further permission was required from the traditional leadership and household heads to gain access to the study participants. In this instance, emails were sent to the CRDC and the MCPA seeking permission to conduct the research in the respective communities. The CRDC provided the Chief Sengwe‘s contact details and sought his permission through his aide. The MCPA sought the chief‘s permission on the researcher‘s behalf. Both traditional leaders gave their consent verbally thereby providing access to the research participants. The traditional authorities also provided the necessary support (accommodation, location of participants and moral support) that made it possible to conduct the fieldwork. The cooperation of the participants within rural communities is strongly influenced by the traditional authorities (Chirozva, 2016) and approval of the research at the official level is a first step in accessing the research participants. In the case of women as research participants, the researcher acknowledged the cultural dynamics and also sought permission from the household heads. The household heads, mostly men and elderly women, were approached, briefed on the nature of the research and asked for their consent before finally approaching the potential participants. 4.9.2 Primary data collection process The primary data for this research was collected in the Sengwe and Makuleke communities during the first quarter of 2019 after obtaining permission to conduct the study from the university, administrative authorities, traditional authorities and household heads. The researcher held discussions with the administrative authorities prior to visiting the case communities. These discussions were aimed at gathering information on when to visit the case communities, mode of transport favourable, accommodation options available and the geographical demarcation of the study area. Although the CRDC officials acknowledged the existence of rural women involved in culturally-based tourism entrepreneurship, they did not have details and the traditional leadership helped in identifying first participants. The council officials revealed the Chief‘s contact details but interactions were only made possible two weeks later, primarily because of the absence of mobile network coverage at the chief‘s residence and nearby communities. The chief gave his consent for the study to be carried out and provided accommodation for the duration of the fieldwork. The mapping of the Sengwe community led the researcher to limit the study only to the Sengwe village. This was done taking into consideration the lack of intra-village transport within the 75 community. The first two weeks were spent identifying the participants and soliciting their consent to participate in the study. A total of ten participants agreed to participate in the study and interview dates were scheduled. The interviews were conducted in Xichangana. The participants chose the venue and time period to conduct the interviews. The research assistant conducted the interviews which lasted between forty-five minutes and one hour and thirty minutes. The interviews were flexible and allowed the participants to pursue their household and entrepreneurial tasks were possible. The interview results were handwritten since the majority of the participants were not comfortable with audio recording as they cited that their voices were largely recognisable and most of them it was their first time to participate in a study of this nature. The researcher would spend a day having informal conversations with the participants, observing venture activities, skills applied and resultant outcomes. Photographs were taken to support the written narratives. The researcher also communicated with the MCPA via email and permission to conduct the study was granted. The researcher was accommodated at the Makuleke homestay and cultural centre. The study was limited to the Makuleke village. It was relatively easy to identify and contact the research participants due to the proximity of the household units, mobile network coverage and interactions at the amphitheatre. The same interview process conducted in the Sengwe community was also repeated in the Makuleke community. 4.9.3 Timing of the research study The data collection process was done between January and April 2019. The period soon after the festive season is characterised with low tourism activity and much of the focus in rural economies will be biased towards rain fed cropping. The cyclone Idai however, had negatively affected agricultural productivity and rural women entrepreneurs put much effort and resources in their ventures as a means to cushion themselves against the impending effects of crop failure. Because of this, the participants had more free time to share their insights regarding the study subject during this period. Their participation in their venture activities meant that the researcher was able to observe the nature of the enterprises and the entrepreneurial skills utilised. 4.9.4 Positionality The involvement of the research assistants in the location of the research participants, translations and interpretation of certain cultural norms inevitably make them part and parcel of the research process. The research assistants‘ background as community members also influenced this study. Their ability to understand, comprehend and speak Shangaan fluently 76 facilitated a more accurate translation of the semi-structured interview guide and its subsequent application (Arroyo et al., 2019). The roles played by the research assistants provided the researcher with an insider perspective. The insider perspective is further buttressed by the researcher‘s extended stay in the case communities and prolonged engagement with the research participants. The researcher was able to know the research participants better and experience their tourism offerings at length while lasting relations were built as historical Bantu migrations were chronicled in an attempt to tie our closeness and kinship. The involvement of the researcher in the data collection was two-sided as both a student and tourist. The researcher presented himself as a student eager to learn about the nature of the entrepreneurial activities and the resultant experiences. This stance was emphasised during the introductory phase and was further reinforced by the inability of the researcher to communicate in Shangaan. Resultantly, the study participants viewed themselves as knowledgeable and improved their willingness to answer my questions and openly share their experiences. In the same vein, the difficulty encountered when communicating with the research participants position the researcher as an outsider. This position was further influenced by the tourist gaze that the researcher often took when interacting with the study subjects. The lack of cultural knowledge and the researcher‘s inquisitiveness led the researcher to be viewed as a tourist. This widened the knowledge base through experiencing the tourism products and services offered. For example, the Makuleke CPA facilitated a trip to the KNP which helped the researcher‘s appreciation of the wildlife and cultural resources and the lodges operating within the Makuleke Contractual Park (MCP). Both the student and tourist positions taken by the researcher influenced the relationship between himself and the research participants (Berger, 2015). The participants were willing to share their experiences, thereby reinforcing the accuracy and authenticity of the results collected. 4.9.5 Difficulties encountered during field research The homesteads in the Sengwe community are geographically dispersed which made it difficult to locate the participants. The situation was further worsened by lack of mobile network coverage and unavailability of intra-community transport. The researcher would walk long distances and the would-be participants were informed orally beforehand for them to anticipate our arrival. The scheduling also reduced incidents where the researcher would find the participants away from their homesteads. For example, discussing the dates of the interview resulted in Ntiyiso clarifying that she attends church every Friday and Hleketani has set aside Wednesday to close her food business and do the ordering. 77 The researcher encountered gender and tradition-related constraints in obtaining data from rural women. All the participants revealed that they were comfortable to be interviewed in Xichangana with which the researcher was not conversant. The engagement of local research assistants to conduct the interviews facilitated the research process. The interviewing of rural women was a daunting task due to their diverse backgrounds and differences in their experiences and perceptions of culturally-based tourism activities. The researcher was also faced with lingual problems during the fieldwork. The dominant language in both communities is Shangaan (Muzeza, 2013). Notwithstanding the fact that there have been improved literacy levels in rural communities in Southern Africa, the researcher hired two research assistants to facilitate discussions, identifying location of participants and translations. The research assistants were selected because of their knowledge of the case communities and ability to socialise with other community members. The traditional authority helped to select the research assistants and their endorsement by the traditional leadership is based on past involvement in similar studies and their social standing in the case communities. The research made use of a woman research assistant in the Sengwe community. Apart from being a resident of the Sengwe community, she also had recently graduated with a degree majoring in Shangaan which made her knowledgeable of the language and customs of the participants. The use of a woman as an assistant enabled the research participants to be comfortable, freely express themselves and be able to share their experiences with someone they know and can easily relate to based on gender. The traditional authorities felt that there had been plenty of research that had been conducted in their communities without any tangible contributions towards the development of their communities. This led them to question the rationale of these studies. Nonetheless, they postulated that studies independent of government influence yielded realistic results and expressed their desire to be briefed on the research outcomes. The participants were thrilled and felt the study provided them with a platform to share their own experiences as previous researches only focused on the traditional authorities and their male counterparts. 4.10 Data Analysis This involves the process of breaking data into smaller units to reveal their characteristic elements and structure. Data analysis enabled the researcher to interpret, understand and explain thereby gaining new insights from the collected data. Audretsch and Keilbach (2005) state that data collected using the qualitative approach ought to be analysed to extract meaning and draw conclusions about the study subject. Qualitative analysis is the range of processes and procedures that seek to examine the obtained data and come up with an explanation and interpretations of the people and situations under investigation (Berg, 2001). 78 There is no one phase of data analysis (O‘Reilly, 2012) and the analysis was done in numerous stages that interlinked. The analysis is a continuous activity of processing fieldwork narratives and events to make connections to the research question. This began during the fieldwork as the researcher identified concepts that appeared likely to help in understanding the entrepreneurial skills of rural women in Southern Africa. The observations made and resultant notes, participation in entrepreneurial activities and notes-taking that began from the first day of the fieldwork were all part of the data analysis. The first stage also involved the preparation of data describing the demographic characteristics of the participants, identification and assignment of pseudonyms to each interviewee. The Shangaan names were favoured as an attempt to associate the research with the case setting. The transcribing of the spoken word into written format that was done during the interview process also constituted data analysis. The research assistant would reread the participant‘s responses to verify whether the participant‘s narratives have been captured correctly. The analysis progressed with the notes taken during the fieldwork being translated from Xichangana to English at the end of each day. The researcher personally typed both the participants‘ narratives (in Xichangana) and the translated notes verbatim to avoid bias (Nieuwenhuis, 2016) and also to re-live the notes so as to understand how the data would connect with the research questions. All the interviews were typed in one folder. Then sub- folders were created on the computer to organise the data collected based on the interview guide questions and the participants‘ responses were transferred into the respective folders. These sub-folders were named as demographic data, venture data, entrepreneurial experiences and livelihood characteristics which made it easy to identify each folder. The participant‘s pseudonym and the entrepreneurial activity were assigned at the end of each narrative to simplify further analysis. The photographs were also transferred from the digital camera into the computer and a separate folder was created for them. The researcher reviewed the photographs that have been transferred noting down the place where the photograph was taken and the meaning that can be extracted from it. These brief notes explained the photographs and all this was part of the analysis. The photographs that were not clear were deleted. The researcher also typed observation notes, explanations of photographs and summary notes consisting of place of the conversation, problems encountered, reflections relating to the participant‘s responses and future questions and placed each in its own folder. The researcher would also write additional notes in italics which constitute partial analysis of the generated data in terms of both content quality and ability of the methodology used to generate relevant data. These notes assisted greatly in contextualising the participants‘ opinions, developing follow up questions and searching for patterns that aided in the organisation and presentation of the 79 information. The typing of the participants‘ responses and organisation of the data was done for every interview and on the same day as the interview. This helped in recollecting the day‘s events and preparing for upcoming interviews. The analysis of data during the fieldwork enabled the researcher to avoid accumulation of unanalysed data and jot down emerging patterns whilst the mind was fresh. Having completed the interviews, typed the data gathered and selected relevant photographs, thematic content analysis was used to further interpret and generate meaning. Thematic content analysis relates to placing data into themes to provide commonality among the participants (Anderson, 2007). This research analysed how rural women effectively and efficiently utilised the communal tourism resources in their locality to develop the skills used. In this case, the researcher repeatedly read the participants‘ narratives in each sub-folder and picked major themes and sub themes from the interview scripts. These sub themes were explained with the aid of representative quotations extracted from the interviews and interpreted using information gained from the literature. The memories, feelings and contemplations neither included in the written accounts nor captured on photographs were also used to inform the analysis. It is imperative to capture not only what was said but how it was said to correctly capture the participants‘ entrepreneurial experiences (Poland, 2003). All this analysis of the sub themes was within the context and objectives of the research. The explanation and interpretation of the themes was in narrative style which enabled the researcher to present the participants‘ own version relating to their entrepreneurial skills, experiences, perceptions and knowledge. The narrative style was ideal in outlining the participants‘ experiences in relation to CBT as an economic activity and also enabling the researcher to give his own perspective on the meaning of rural women‘s experiences. It provided a way in which the participants explained their understanding of their own entrepreneurial skills and experiences specific to CBT. Consequently, the researcher was able to socially construct and give meaning to the participants‘ explanation of their past experiences. This is consistent with the constructivist perspective that community-based tourism entrepreneurship takes place in different forms and it provides different meanings and experiences within a society. The research assistants were handy in the comprehension of participants‘ actions, words and facial expressions which were crucial in analysing written work. Their interpretation of events complemented the researcher‘s own interpretations and interwoven with the interview extracts and are part of the analytical accounts of the entrepreneurial experiences of rural women. From this perspective, the researcher tapped into the research assistants‘ knowledge relating to the participants‘ culture and understanding of events. This greatly improved the analysis. 80 The analysis went beyond the generated themes and the researcher enhanced data analysis through meetings with supervisors. The writing process along with feedback from the supervisors and peers enabled the researcher to determine how best to represent the data so that it reflects the multiple voices and experiences present in the data thereby deepening analysis. The context within which the study was undertaken is also included in the analysis chapters to appreciate how the participants‘ skills, experiences, perceptions and knowledge are shaped. 4.11 Ethical Considerations Ethical research practice refers to the values and rules of conduct in research and consultation (Moyo, 2010). The success of the researcher depends on both the researcher‘s skills, ethical awareness and approach to engagement of participants during fieldwork (Corbin & Morse, 2003). Neuman (2006) emphasises the need to consider ethical issues when conducting qualitative research. He alludes that this helps to balance the attainment of research objectives and respect of rights of participants and the broader community. The researcher first sought clearance from the Ethics Committee at the North-West University and the approval was granted (Annexure VI) (project EMSREC number; NWU-00655-20-A4). The research committee approved the data collection tools, verbal consent form, tape recording consent form and the participant information sheet. The researcher obtained institutional approval from the respective administrative authorities. In this case, permission was granted from the Chiredzi Rural District Council (CRDC) (Annexure VII) and the Makuleke Community Property Association (MCPA) (Annexure VIII). Further permission was sought from traditional leaders for the respective communities. The traditional authorities were approached before visiting the participants and they were debriefed on the nature of the research (Annexure V). Due to the patriarchal nature of the targeted case communities, approval was also sought from the husbands in the case of married women and household heads. The researcher read, discussed and gave participants a copy of the information sheet (Annexure IV) that includes details of the research and institutional affiliation. During this process, prospective participants sought clarification on any issues related to the research. The researcher highlighted the participants‘ right to withdraw from the research without providing any explanation and that any publications arising from the research will ensure privacy and confidentiality of their responses. Upon understanding and agreeing to participate in the research, participants appended their signatures on the consent forms to indicate their willingness to participate in the research. The participants were also informed that photographs will be taken to capture all data needed and their consent was also solicited in that regard. 81 Providing all the relevant information to the potential participants was critical in creating trust and building rapport with research participants. The researcher also considered concerns relating to the protection of participants‘ privacy and identities. In this regard, the researcher ensured that participants are not identifiable in print because they could suffer unforeseen potential harm and embarrassment emanating from their participation in the research (Neuman, 2006). Nonetheless, as the researcher had anticipated the topic covered posed few risks for participants and these were limited to discomfort caused by intrusion to their personal space and particularly how they earn their household income. Therefore, the researcher did not collect any identifying information in this research to ensure anonymity. The researcher further used pseudonyms to identify participants during analysis and in the presentation of findings. However, the researcher acknowledges the inherent risk that he could unintentionally disclose participants‘ identities and those of others included in their narratives (Corbin & Morse, 2003) when he includes participant‘s words in the reported findings. The researcher sought the participants‘ consent to use photographs as they reveal their identity. Chilisa (2005) argues that research ethics goes beyond issues of confidentiality and consent and includes respect and protection of the integrity of the researched communities, ethnicities, societies and nations. This often calls researchers to critically think about the realities of fieldwork beyond the formal mechanisms to include ethics in practice (Guillemin & Gillam, 2004). The researcher cultivated lasting relationships with the case communities and the local government authorities and traditional leaders were informed of the conclusion of the fieldwork. By so doing the researcher nurtured lasting relationships and long-term engagement with the case communities. The researcher presented the fieldwork material to his best ability and being respectful to the participants by not, for example, including participants‘ more private confessions or circumstantial observations that could potentially cause harm (e.g. embarrassment) to the participants if their identity was revealed. 4.12 Chapter summary and structure of research finding presentation This chapter explained the methodological process, detailing the research paradigm, research process, research instruments and how the data were analysed. It examined the conceptualisation of the methods and application of various methods during the fieldwork. The chapter further looked at the case setting, design, sampling techniques and specific methods of data gathering that were used during fieldwork as well as the rationality of adopting qualitative approaches. Furthermore, the researcher explains how information-gathering techniques were linked with each research objective The social constructivist paradigm enabled the researcher to 82 obtain rich insights relating to the different ways in which the participants‘ skills, experiences, perceptions and knowledge are embedded in social relations. The semi-structured interviews were complemented with participant observations to capture relevant data relating to rural women‘s accounts of CBCTV. The researcher informed the participants of the nature of the study and utmost care was taken to respect the participants and not disclose potentially embarrassing information. The research assistants played a crucial role in easing the challenges faced by the researcher that include language barriers and location of participants. Next, the presentation of the research findings will follow. It is grouped into four chapters and each chapter presents the research findings guided by the research objectives. The presentation of the research findings and discussions are characterised by the extensive use of quotes. This enables the researcher to bring to the fore rural women‘s experiences and understanding of their own entrepreneurial skills in their own voices, then deductively interpret and draw conclusions. The researcher only acted as a facilitator in revealing the different meanings and experiences out of the multiple voices of the participants. The research findings are presented in the following chapters: research context, rural women‘s experiences, rural women‘s entrepreneurial skills and tourism entrepreneurship as a household livelihood strategy. The research context chapter provides a background that helps to explain rural women‘s experiences. The participants‘ entrepreneurial initiatives are not detached from the external environment and analysis of the political and socio-economic characteristics helps to explain their behaviours. The research context also explains the natural, social, countryside and cultural capital available or the lack thereof to the participants which helps to ascertain the ability to exploit the culturally-based communal resources. Chapter 6, focuses on the participants‘ experiences in the development of the CBCTV. The focus is on how the entrepreneurs balance the demands of their ventures and reproductive work, interactions with the tourists and ability to sustain the ventures. Chapter 7 highlights rural women‘s entrepreneurial skills and these skills are revealed through explanations on how the participants complete the entrepreneurial tasks. Chapter 8 details the contribution of the CBCTV towards household livelihoods. The contributions are noted in terms of improving the quality of life, investments made and support of other livelihood strategies. The themes that emerged from the research are summarised, grouped and presented in the respective chapters. The last chapter following the discussion of findings offers conclusions and recommendations based on the literature reviewed and the researcher‘s own perspectives. 83 CHAPTER 5: RESEARCH CONTEXT 5.1 Introduction The research was conducted within the disciplines of community-based tourism (CBT) and rural entrepreneurship with rural women as dominant players. The researcher sought to understand the manner in which rural women utilise cultural tourism resources and how such actions influence rural household livelihood by using the case study approach. The case study approach relates to an empirical investigation of a contemporary phenomenon within a real-life context using observation and interviews (Yin, 2014). Komppula (2014) highlights that a case study enables the researcher to gain an in-depth understanding of a particular case, the cases under study were not only representative of similar cases but representative of themselves. The analysis of the complex data that emerged from the study can only be possible after setting the structures that describe where the fieldwork took place. This section describes the geographic location of the case areas, tourism resources found in the area (physical capital) and the socio- economic conditions. This provides a contextual understanding of the background that shapes rural women‘s experiences, perceptions and perspectives of rural tourism entrepreneurship. This section also narrows the contextual analysis through explaining the demography of the participants and the themes that emerged from the study. 5.2 Geographic context This relates to the physical boundaries that define the area in which the fieldwork was conducted (section 2.2.1). The researcher overlooked the political boundaries between countries and the demarcation was guided by the socio-economic relations between communities. The Sengwe community is located in Chiredzi district in Zimbabwe and lies between the GNP and the Limpopo River. The Sengwe community lies within the envisaged Sengwe corridor (an ecological buffer zone) that links the GNP and the KNP. The Makuleke community is located in the Limpopo province and consists of Makuleke, Ntlaveni, Mabalingwe villages and the reclaimed Pafuri Triangle (Muzeza 2013). 84 Figure 5-1: Map depicting the location of Sengwe and Makuleke communities M Source: Adapted from Spenceley (2005) The map shows the approximate location of the Sengwe and Makuleke communities, located in Zimbabwe and South Africa respectively. The Limpopo River serves as the border between Zimbabwe and South Africa. The Sengwe and Makuleke communities are located at the periphery of the GNP and the KNP and lie within the GLTP. The encircled areas show the approximate location of the Sengwe and Makuleke villages. The area has abundant natural resources that include; rivers, land, wildlife, an array of bird and plant species (Maluleke, 2018; Spenceley, 2005). The major rivers are Runde, Mwenezi (Sengwe), Luvhuvhu (Makuleke) and the Limpopo flows between the two communities. The availability of water has attracted wildlife that include; elephants, buffaloes and leopards. Both communities are involved in the management of wildlife; the Makuleke community co-manages the Makuleke Contractual Park (Maluleke, 2018) and the Sengwe community is involved through the CAMPFIRE programe (Chiutsi & Saarinen, 2017). The Sengwe community is also endowed with hot springs (Chipise, Mashavi and Davata) and the Manjinji Pan. The availability of these tourism resources makes tourism business a lucrative venture and the ability of the community to utilise the tourism resources for their well-being will improve household livelihoods. 85 Both communities are semi-arid, characterised by mean annual temperatures ranging between 22 and 27 degrees Celsius (summer temperatures often exceeding 30 degrees Celsius) and an average rainfall of 300mm-600mm is received annually (Chirozva, 2016). The rainfall is erratic, and the rainfall patterns are varied. These climatic conditions have influenced the vegetation in the communities. The vegetation type consists of; mopani woodland, dry deciduous woodland, riparian woodland along rivers and the Pafuri region also has spectacular riverine and fever tree forests (Maluleke, 2018). The high temperatures influence the villagers to grass thatch their houses and the researcher realised that most villagers in the Sengwe slept outside their homes as a result of the high temperatures. Oral conversations with the villagers led the researcher to realise that wild animals that include; kudus, buffaloes, elephants and other small animals roam in the villages at night with little harm to humans unless confronted. Nonetheless, they would destroy crops in the fields and this results in people resenting their visits. The spectacular vegetation and different birdlife species, particularly in the Pafuri region make bird watching, photography, game drives and nature walks lucrative ventures. The researcher realised that these tourism products are only offered by the KNP, Return Africa and other established organisations. The Pafuri region is part of the Makuleke community and community members, women in particular, have to be capacitated to fully utilise the tourism resources. 5.3 Political Context The Sengwe and Makuleke communities are located in Zimbabwe and South Africa respectively resulting in differences in their political administration. The Sengwe community is located in Chiredzi district, Zimbabwe and consists of administrative wards 13, 14 and 15 (Muzeza, 2013). A ward is a local government administrative and management unit that comprises a cluster of villages with a combined population of between 800 and 1500 households (Chirozva, 2016). The villages in ward 14 include; Dhavata, Chinama, Sengwe, Kotsvi, Gezani, Mpandle and Muguvisa and the diagram below illustrates the Sengwe community. 86 Figure 5-2: Political boundaries of the Sengwe community Source: (Chirozva et al., 2013) Figure 5-2 above illustrates the location of the villages in the Sengwe community, and the research was undertaken in ward 14 and, specifically, in the Sengwe village. The village was chosen because of its location in the envisaged Sengwe corridor. The researcher was residing at Chief Sengwe‘s homestead and it was convenient to travel in the village. The homesteads are widely dispersed and there is no inter-villages and/ intra-villages transport, which limited the research only to the Sengwe village. The intensity of the case study approach coupled with time and financial resources constrained the researcher to limit himself to the Sengwe village. The Sengwe community is under Chief Sengwe and the chief derives his authority from the Traditional Leaders Act of 1998 (chapter 29:17). The traditional structure of the community includes Chief Sengwe, headmen and kraal heads. (Muzeza, 2013) notes that the traditional institutions are the custodians of land and natural resources and the communal ownership of the resources is highly regarded by the villagers. All the same, Chirozva et al. (2010) highlight that, although the chief has custody of land and natural resources in his jurisdiction; the 87 resource ownership is based on the family holding system. The household head in most cases owns the land and the pasturelands allocated to them by the chief. The ownership of the natural and cultural resources forms the basis for the exploitation of the resources for tourism purposes. Rural women do not have ownership rights over land which constrains them to make decisions relating to developments they can make on the piece of land allocated to the family and the ways in which the land is utilised. The (CRDC) manages resource use and any developments taking place within the communal areas. The local councillors and Members of Parliament are responsible for the policy development and implementation in the communal areas at national level. Administratively, the state superimposes itself in running the affairs of the community through local councillors, members of parliament and different government departments. For example, the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority superintends the use of wildlife resources in both protected areas and community areas. On the other hand, the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) manages the water sources and one has to pay a license fee for the right to draw underground water. The CRDC governs the development initiatives and tourism businesses pursued in rural communities through the licensing system. The CRDC has authority over land use, natural resource use and infrastructural development in the communal areas. This means that the community has to seek council approval for the developments they intend to pursue in their locality. Chirozva et al. (2013) identify councillors as key participants in natural resource use because they represent the community interests at district meetings. They also communicate with parliamentarians and their input will be critical in ensuring that members of parliament debate from an informed point of view. All the same, the Makuleke community consists of Makuleke, Ntlaveni and Mabalingwe villages and reclaimed control of the Pafuri Triangle in 1996 (Muzeza, 2013). It is in the Limpopo province of South Africa under the Collins Chabane Municipality; chief Makuleke. Figure 5-3 illustrates the Makuleke community. The Makuleke community occupies 5000 hectares in the Ntlhaveni area. 88 Figure 5-3: administrative map of the Makuleke community Source: (Maluleke, 2018) The area inside the green boundary depicts the Makuleke community and consists of the Makuleke, Ntaveni and Mabalingwe villages. The Makuleke community is approximately ten kilometres and sixty kilometres from the KNP‘s Punda Maria gate and the Pafuri region respectively (Louw, 2010) The municipality provides infrastructure and social services to the community. It must be noted that the Makuleke people managed to retain their indigenous political system at the Ntlhaveni. The Makuleke Traditional Authority settles disputes and governs the community. The Makuleke people are a close-knit social unit and that cohesiveness is noted by their ability to organise themselves (Uhr & Steenkamp, 2000). The forced removals from the Pafuri region in 1969 coupled with the Makuleke struggle in solving the chieftaincy dispute with Chief Mhinga further cemented cohesion (Shehab, 2011). The unity within the community also led to the formation of democratic institutional structures that include; the Makuleke Community Property Association (MCPA), the Joint Management Board (JMB), the Joint Management Committee (JMC), the Makuleke Development Forum (MDF) and the Makuleke Development Trust (MDT) (Shehab, 2011). The MCPA was formed in accordance with the CPA Act No. 28 of 1996 with the aim of acquiring, holding and managing the restored land (Maluleke, 2018). Whilst the MCPA manages the commercialisation of the Pafuri area; the 89 JMB, a partnership between the MCPA and the KNP, manages the conservation of the same area and the JMC provides a platform for discussions between the MCPA and the private players that are in partnership with the MCPA. The political discourse within the Sengwe community is such that the traditional authority has limited authority over land planning and resource utilisation and the organisation and cohesion of the Makuleke community has enabled them to derive economic benefits from their resources. The contextual analysis of the case communities reveals the dual nature of the political landscape. This is emanating from the traditional authorities and governments through various departments contesting rights over controlling resource use by the community members. The government departments provide a guiding framework and influence land use within the local communities (section 3.5.1). In the same vein, local entities, cultural practices and local knowledge systems play an important role in the sustenance of communal tourism resources through regulation and mediation of conduct. Local institutions also play a critical role in nurturing tourism entrepreneurship among rural women. For example, rural women in the Sengwe village operate their food businesses with the blessing of the traditional leadership. The dual nature of the administration of rural communities is noted at this point where the local council descend on the food operators demanding that they license their enterprises and pay relevant taxes among other statutory obligations. Amukelani briefly said, ―…himukhuva loyi haboheliwa ku hakela ntsengo eka lava va vonaka hiswa mabindzu nakava kombako vanhu tindhawu leswaku nikota kuendla bindzu lamina. Bindzu leri ni liendlela kwala ndlwini lamina kambe vona valava eku Mina ni hakela leswaku ni kuma papilonra mabindzu na ndwawu leyi ni nga xavilesako kona‖- (…. occasionally they raid us and force us to pay fines. I run my business in my own yard and the council want me to purchase a business stand from them). The decision to relocate their ventures to certain marked areas baffles Ntinyiko as well because ―…hikokwalaho ndhawu leyi yikumeka kule na lava vatshamako kona yile kamuganga un‘wani‖-(the designated place is far away from their homes and located in another village). Amukelani and Ntinyiko‘s views clearly illustrate that they dislike the actions of the local authority. Amukelani, in particular, feels that the local authority is usurping her entitlement to land ownership and subsequent right to use the land that belongs to her family. 90 5.4 Social context The VaTsonga people are dominant in the geographically interconnected communities (Muzeza, 2013) and are characterised by historical attachments that ensue strong social and cultural ties. The case communities‘ social environment affects the viability of tourism as a livelihood strategy. In the same vein, tourism also affects the communities‘ social well-being (Weaver & Lawton, 2007). The social factors influence the shape and scope in which rural tourism is developed (Saufi, 2013) and impact on the ability of the host community to manage the impacts brought by tourism entrepreneurship as a livelihood strategy (Tosun, 2002). The social environment comprises culture, relationships, interactions and networks, infrastructure services, attitudes and community perceptions and socio-economic characteristics. These components of the social context help to explain the entrepreneurial characteristics and skills of rural women. According to Pyysiäinen et al. (2006), people select, construct and negotiate meanings based on their self-belief of efficacy and rural women in the case communities are no exception. 5.4.1 Culture Culture is defined as the characteristics and knowledge acquired as a result of being a member of a society and includes language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts (Avruch, 1998). The derivatives of experience are organised, learned and meanings are passed from one generation to the other (Spencer-Oatey & Franklin, 2012). The notion that culture influences and/or is influenced by tourism is supported by Richards (2018) who further notes that strong culture attracts tourists. In this instance, he explains that culture and tourism are inextricably linked as culture stimulates travel through various events and stimuli and travel generates culture. The emergence of culture as an attraction in its own right was a result of tourists seeking new opportunities and the increased number of communities recognising the value of their own culture and contributions to local economies (Richards & Munsters, 2010). The VaTsonga culture shapes tourism products with its unique features that vary materially, intellectually, spiritually and emotionally from other cultures. The dominant language in the Sengwe and Makuleke communities is Shangaan. There are other minority languages such as Venda, Shona and Ndebele and these are a result of in-migration and marriages. The need for one to be identified as a member of the community has led in-migrants to learn the Shangaan language. The VaTsonga women pride themselves on their unique traditional attire that consists of a piece of material tied around the shoulder (nceka), a blouse (yele) and a skirt called xibelana. The 91 women also wear a headscarf (xichalu-duku) which is made of beads and wool. Figure 5-4 shows the dress typical of the VaTsonga women. The two photographs were taken in the Sengwe and Makuleke communities in that order and at different dates. All the women in the photographs wore the nceka and had their heads covered with a head scarf. Two of the photographed women wore necklaces and such dressing is a common feature among the women in the case communities. Figure 5-4: the VaTsonga women’s dressing style Source: Own photograph The researcher also observed that the women favour bright colours and beads are an integral part of the traditional VaTsonga attire. It was further noted that the dress code is more common among the older women and the young women‘s dress is influenced western culture. This resonates with Spencer-Oatey and Franklin's (2012) assertion that culture is dynamic and evolves over time. The television and travelling to the cities has largely influenced the dressing of girls. The researcher also noted that the dressing is influenced by events and the photograph below shows attire for dancing. 92 Figure 5-5: A photograph depicting dancing attire Source: Own photograph The type of food consumed in the homesteads varies and depends on resource availability. In the Sengwe community, the food served in households consists of traditional dishes. The researcher vividly remembers being served millet meal and pumpkin leaves with peanut butter for lunch and roasted groundnuts were snacks for the day. ‗Madleke‘ a non-alcoholic beverage will be served at midday to energise people tilling the fields. The presence of retail shops in the Makuleke community has altered the type of food consumed in the households and breakfast consists mostly of bread, tea and achaar. Families till crops such as groundnuts, and maize on the small pieces of land allocated to them. Food and beverages are part and parcel of the Shangaan culture and, as such, regarded as an act of welcoming a visitor. Whilst in the Makuleke community, the research assistant jokingly said, ―Muti un‘wanana un‘wana laha uyendzaka kumbe ufikako kona u tava kawunyikwa swakudya, hikokwalaho loko utwa uri xurhe tlhelela kaya kawena‖ (Each family you will visit will serve you food and you cannot refuse. When your stomach is full then let us go back). Hall and Sharpes (2003) conclude that food contributes a significant portion of expenditure on tourists‘ budget. The foods and beverages prepared, the preparation techniques and the time to eat are a critical component of tourist experiences. The understanding of food as a part of the Shangaan culture is key in explaining the consumption of food as a part of travelling and food as the main motivation for the trip. Every community has its own and exclusive customs relating to how food is prepared, served and eaten (Horng & Tsai, 2010). In the Sengwe community, food for the household head is served in a ntobana (a special plate reserved only for him). The food is served by women who kneel on presenting the food to the guest. The researcher also noted that certain animal parts, such as the liver, are the preserve of the husband. There is a 93 need to conduct research relating to the customs that constitute food tourism in the Sengwe and Makuleke communities. The harvesting of Mopani worms and extraction of palm wine are activities that the researcher thinks, if properly marketed, will drive food tourism in the case communities. The highlighted customs define food as more than nourishment, can only be experienced among the VaTsonga and are a part of their local culture. 5.4.2 Social infrastructure The period spent during the fieldwork enabled the researcher to observe and also experience the infrastructural facilities that are in the case communities. The infrastructure includes road and rail networks, telecommunication infrastructure and social amenities (electricity, water and health facilities). The infrastructure helps to explain the environment in which the entrepreneurs operate and highlight the ability and skills used to sustain the entrepreneurial initiatives. The availability of the infrastructure also improves destination competitiveness. The infrastructural developments also influence tourist demand, quality of the tourism product and also shape the environment in which entrepreneurship takes place. The Sengwe and Makuleke communities offer contrasting levels of infrastructure development and the description here is based on the researcher‘s own experiences during the fieldwork. It is approximately a twelve-hour journey either from Johannesburg to Makuleke or from Chiredzi to Sengwe and it costs ZAR 200 (US$15.70) for each journey. However, there are notable differences that help to explain the transport systems for the two communities. Many buses ply the Johannesburg – Malamulele route and then one will take commuter omnibuses to the Makuleke whilst only one bus plies the Chiredzi- Sengwe route because the latter route consists of a gravel road and the bridges are in a poor state. The lack of transport is well illustrated by Ntinyiko when she said, ―Ndzi kumile timbuti ta mina emugangeni waka Pahlela, leswi vangelako eku ndziya ngena ebazin hi awara yavumbirhi ni hlekanhi. Kambe hi xintalo ndzi ehla hi awara ya khume mbirhi exikarhi kavusiku ndzi etlela kamakwenu wa mina. Leswaku ndzi takota kupfuka ndzi hakela timbuti vi hixile, ndzi takhoma nkarhi wabazi na madyambo‖. (I source goats from Pahlela, I board the bus at two o‘clock in the afternoon and sleep at my sister‘s house. The following day I make payments for the goats and will board the bus later in the evening. In most cases I arrive at my homestead at twelve midnight). Ntinyiko‘s travel experiences summarise the transport problem faced by villagers in ward 14. In this case she will be away from her homestead for two days and hence will not be able to undertake daily household chores. This would not have been the case if there was intra-village transport 94 Rural women involved in beadwork in both communities indicated that they source their raw materials from Malamulele. The availability of transport from the Makuleke to Malamulele makes it easier for the women to travel and purchase their raw materials on time. The same cannot be said for the Sengwe women. There is no direct route linking the Makuleke and Sengwe communities. The situation is further compounded by the existence of a political boundary separating the two communities and the historic routes previously used are now illegal. The ‗illegal‘ routes are now manned by soldiers who solicit for bribes to allow passage and, alternatively, the Sengwe women have to travel to the Beitbridge border post. The envisaged Sengwe corridor aims to ensure restoration of animal movements between the Gonarezhou National Park (GNP) and the Kruger National Park (KNP) (Spenceley, 2008) and yet historical routes for humans are overlooked. Ntinyiko clearly said, ―Ndzi xava mincumu ya mina yofana na mafurha wosweka ne swo kandzela hiswona cixevo etikweni re Africa Dzonga. Hikokwalaho ka kuva dhoropa ra Chiredzi ri hi kule na hina, ne swekufambisa hiswona swa karhata, na kambe swilo swa kona swadurha. Hi endla swa kufohla Kunene le hi hlanganako namasole lawa a endlako swavakungundzwana leswaku muhundza hile ka vona hiko ku va nga hi karhati‖. (I buy cooking oil and soups from South Africa through the illegal entry points because Chiredzi is distant and the items are expensive. We pay soldiers in order to be allowed ‗free‘ passage). The shortage of transport coupled with an expensive and distant formal route result in women using the illegal routes. Rural entrepreneurs as Ntinyiko are being driven by the desire to fend for their families. The food businesses present as the only viable alternative in the face of natural catastrophes such as droughts and cyclones that have hampered agricultural productivity. Contrastingly, transport in and out of the Makuleke community is readily available and the road network is good. Despite the good road network, it is also prudent to note that the quality is diluted by the harassment suffered when boarding a bus to Johannesburg from Malamulele. The rank marshalls physically harass and embarrass travellers forcing them to board selected buses and one might lose valuables during the comotion. The social factors also include power supplies, water availability, health access and mobile network coverage. The Makuleke village has improved social facilities; a health centre, primary and secondary schools are located within the village. It also has electricity, streetlights and tapped water. Contrastingly, the health centre and schools are in a distant village while wood is the major source of fuel. A communal borehole is the major source of clean water and it supplies a wider geographical area such that women queue for water as early as 04:00. 95 5.5 Economic context The economic activities in the Sengwe and Makuleke communities include; agriculture, tourism and remittances (Maluleke, 2018; Muzeza, 2013; Spenceley, 2005). Both communities practise extensive subsistence crop and livestock farming and these farming activities are practised despite frequent droughts and erratic rainfall (Chirozva, 2010). Besides an average rainfall that does not viably support dryland crop cultivation, the crops commonly grown in the case communities include maize, groundnuts, sweet potatoes and sorghum. Livestock, especially cattle, is highly regarded as a form of wealth and the more cattle one has, the more he/she is viewed as wealthy. The availability of vast tracts of land in the Sengwe village has made it possible for community members to keep large herds of cattle. The livestock compete for grazing land with wildlife and the spread of disease such as foot and mouth from buffaloes to livestock results in community members resenting wildlife conservation. As a result, some of the local population detest tourism as a livelihood strategy. Ideally, the location of the community calls for the need to effectively utilise the tourism resources and derive benefits from bordering the GNP and being part of the Great Limpopo Trans-frontier Park (GLTP). CBT entrepreneurship offers an alternative rural livelihood strategy for rural women in the face of erratic rains. All the wards participate in the CAMPFIRE programme, which grants them user rights to derive benefits from the sustainable use of tourism resources (Balint & Mashinya, 2006). In the case of the Makuleke community, subsistence crop farming is constrained by the shortage of land in the new Makuleke village. The erratic and ephemeral rainfall that varies in terms of duration and the amount received yearly has resulted in the establishment of irrigation schemes. The researcher noticed that the Makuleke community has been able to create high value crops that include bananas, mango plantations and maize. 96 Figure 5-6: The banana plantations in the Makuleke community Source: own photograph Apart from the banana plantations photographed above, the Makuleke community also have mango plantations. The community also produces seasonal crops such as watermelons and maize and the agricultural activities are run by the MDT. This results in community members being employed mostly as seasonal workers. The agricultural activity helps the community members to gain revenue and this will be at the expense of tourism entrepreneurship. The researcher observed that rural women are part of the workforce that does the cropping and weeding of the irrigated lands and, at the end of the day, they will not have time for tourism services. The notable irrigation scheme in the Sengwe community is in the Malipati area (Ward 15). In the Sengwe village, crop production is limited to rain-fed and stream bank cultivation especially along the Mwenezi and Limpopo rivers. The dryland cropping is limited to drought resistant crops that include sorghum, millet and occasionally maize. The type of crops grown influence the type of food served because the food operators obtain most of their ingredients from within the communities. Rural communities suffer from rural-urban migration (Gidarakou, 2015), and the Sengwe and Makuleke communities are no exception. All the research participants admitted that they rely on the remittances from their relatives working in the cities. Rural to urban migration has greatly affected the population dynamics of the communities as the able-bodied men are attracted by the opportunities presented by the urban areas. In the case of the Sengwe community, young 97 boys migrate to South Africa using illegal entry points and take advantage of the cultural similarities between the communities. The migrants sent money and groceries, and this has improved rural economies and livelihoods for the families with relatives in the urban areas. The case communities also depend on natural resources in their locality to enhance their livelihoods (Muzeza, 2013) and the timber and non-timber forest products utilised include; wild fruits, mopani worms, herbs, firewood, palm wine extraction and thatching grass (Mutenje, 2010). The resources are sustainably utilised and the traditional leadership enforces rules that govern resource exploitation. Dzingirai (2004) also adds that the Sengwe community earns income through an illegal economy that consists of pot poaching, border jumping, smuggling and stream bank cultivation. He further asserts that the illegal activities thrive because of the remoteness and being distant from the centres of power. These activities are hardly noticed as they are done clandestinely and under the cover of darkness, but the existence of law enforcement agencies in the community seems to be an attempt by the government to curb these activities. The Sengwe and Makuleke communities are also involved in consumptive and non- consumptive tourism respectively. The former community is involved in tourism under the auspices of CAMPFIRE and all the wards participate in CAMPFIRE initiatives. The community‘s participation in the CAMPFIRE programme grants them user rights to derive benefits from the sustainable use of the tourism resources (Balint & Mashinya, 2006). The income earned through trophy hunting has been channelled towards construction of schools (construction of Sengwe secondary school, classroom block, teacher‘s house, and toilets in ward 14), purchase of grinding mills (two diesel grinding mills at Malipati ward 15) and electrification projects. Interactions with the CRDC officials revealed that there are other areas that present opportunities for tourism development and these include; Manjinji Bird Pan Sanctuary and Davata Hot Springs. The Makuleke community won their land restitution claim to the Pafuri triangle in 1996 (Maluleke, 2018) and decided to use the land for tourism purposes. At first, trophy hunting was undertaken in the Makuleke contractual park as evidenced by Maluleke‘s (2018, 101) sentiments: ―… focus was exclusively on wildlife management when safari hunting was the sole land use option. This was due to the fact that the early amendments to legislation were made only in the wildlife sector because by then, wildlife hunting as the land use option had produced significantly more tangible and visible benefits compared to other options for the use of the natural resources‖. The community later decided to pursue non-consumptive forms of tourism that include game viewing, photography and construction of lodges within the Makuleke 98 contractual park. The community also runs a bed and breakfast facility in the Makuleke community. The livelihood portfolio pursued by each household depends on the size and structure of the household, access to livestock, off-farm income and migrant remittances (Murungweni et al., 2014). Nhlamulo noted that she pursued the food operations business because of the need to supplement the income sent by her children (remittances) and to be able to pay fees for her grand-children. ―Ndzi na lava va tlhanu lava ndiwundlaka nifanele nakambe kulava ntsengo wotirhisa swin‘wani hikuva ni mina loyi a languteriwaka avoniwaka ka yatswa kuya hiswele mandleni‖-Xeluzani (I look after five children and need additional income since I am the bread winner). Xeluzani‘s sentiments support Nhlamulo‘s earlier sentiments which led the researcher to conclude that the greater the family size the more rural women pursue tourism operations as a livelihood strategy. The research participants highlighted that they receive remittances from their children working in the cities. Tsundukani goes on to say, ―Ndzi tirhisa mali leyi ndzi rhumeli waka hi vana va mina ka ku xava vuhlalo byo rhunga hi byona‖- (I use the money I receive from my children to purchase the raw materials for the beads). According to Tsundukani, the crafts business is an extension of household chores and family income is used to finance the needs of the business and vice versa. This constrains the growth of the crafts business while, at the same time, making it difficult for her to hire additional labour. Tourism in the Sengwe and Makuleke communities presents opportunities to improve household livelihoods. The establishment of the GLTP has not provided any tangible benefits to both communities but opportunities that remain untapped cannot be underestimated. Ideally, the location of both communities calls for the need to effectively utilise the tourism resources and also enjoy spillover benefits from the bordering GNP and KNP and being part of the GLTP. This includes selling their products to the tourists visiting the GLTP or hosting tourists as part and parcel of the GLTP tourism product. CBT entrepreneurship offers an alternative rural livelihood strategy for rural women in the face of erratic rains. There have been concerted efforts to involve both the Sengwe and Makuleke communities and ensure that they derive benefits from the tourism resources in their locality through their involvement in the Great Limpopo Trans-frontier Park (GLTP). From this perspective, it is ideal to gain an understanding on whether rural women, who constitute the majority of the population have the skills to utilise and derive benefits effectively from the communal tourism resources. 99 Apart from the colonial park boundaries that separate them, the two communities share a similar tourism resource base (natural and cultural resources). Furthermore, both communities are characterised by strong communal ownership of natural and cultural resources which are the necessities of rural tourism entrepreneurship (Sibanda, 2015). CBT entrepreneurship is largely a complex and challenging field because it is undertaken based on several discourses and influenced by several stakeholders (Fortunato & Alter, 2015). Resultantly, any conclusions have to be based on a specific case area. The researcher examined the two communities to justify the resultant conclusions relating to CBT entrepreneurship skills of rural women as scientifically testable. Spenceley (2008) notes that CBT is multidimensional and differs in both shape and scope and the analysis of the case communities helped to concurrently analyse and discuss the findings of the entrepreneurial skills of rural women involved in CBT in different socio-economic backgrounds. The concurrent analysis of the case communities removed time differences relating to resource availability which helped in drawing conclusions. Entrepreneurial skills that involve practical activities and fieldwork were key in understanding how and why the activities are conducted. The Sengwe and Makuleke communities offered a societal laboratory from which the researcher was able to examine the entrepreneurial skills of rural women and the way in which these have an influence on rural livelihoods. The Great Limpopo Trans-frontier Park (GLTP) has offered the communities high expectations relating to the upliftment of their livelihoods. This will only be attained when the communities have the requisite skills to tap into the opportunities availed by the GLTP. 5.6 Situating the research This section narrows the interpretation of the research findings to household level, making use of the information obtained from the semi-structured interviews and personal observations. The study gathered deep insights from participants involved in diverse CBCTV and an appreciation of the participants‘ demographic information helped with the interpretation of their narratives. The study reveals that culturally-based tourism entrepreneurship is a socio-economic process that influences household livelihoods and hence the participants‘ demographic profiles help to explain the nature of entrepreneurial activities and reasons the participants behave in a certain manner. 5.6.1 Response rate Thirty participants identified for this study; 16 in Sengwe and 14 in Makuleke villages. The research participants owned and ran small tourism ventures that employed fewer than ten 100 people. Nine potential participants were unable to participate in the study due to varied reasons. For instance, there were two entrepreneurs whose husbands were reluctant to have them participate in the study. This brings to the fore the negative impact of the patriarchal nature of the case communities as the women‘s decisions are influenced by their respective husbands. Three of the identified participants were reluctant to participate in the study and informal discussions with them revealed that they thought it was a municipality exercise aimed at taxing them while some indicated the lack of feedback during previous research exercises they undertook with other researchers. There were two participants whose ventures did not meet the research criteria; they were less than two years old and were considered relatively new. One participant in the Sengwe community had visited her husband who works in town when the study was conducted, and the researcher could not find any further contact details for her. Her business was rented by someone else. As a result, a total of 21 women entrepreneurs participated in the study. The entrepreneurs represented all the forms of cultural tourism identified (craft, spiritual and food operations) and the researcher was satisfied with the response rate. The uniqueness of each entrepreneur‘s experiences makes the results valid and generalisations about their talents and abilities can be deduced from their narratives. 5.6.2 Participants’ socio-economic characteristics Section 1 of the semi-structured interview guide helped to gather the participants‘ background information that included village of origin, age, household size, marital status and educational level. These demographic characteristics facilitate deduction of meaning and interpretations of the observed behaviour. The influence of the demographic characteristics towards culturally- based tourism entrepreneurship cannot be overemphasised. The researcher was also able to gain insights as to how the demographic characteristics influenced rural women entrepreneurs‘ experiences and skills relating to CBT entrepreneurship. The names of the communities have not been changed to retain meaning and also to link the results to the place. The researcher made use of pseudonyms to conceal the identity of the participants. Table 5-1 summarises the background information of the research participants Table 5-1: Profile of the research participants Community Name & age Type of tourism venture Educational Civil status &years in business level Tsakani (33) Food operations (4) Secondary Widowed Hleketani (38) Food operations (11) Primary Married 101 Amukelani (36) Food operations (5) Primary Married Nhlamulo (50) Food operations (19) Primary Married Ntinyiko (44) Food operations (15) Primary Divorced Sengwe Xeluzani (38) Food operations (9) Secondary Widowed Hitahlula (83) Spiritual tourism (51) No formal Widowed Zinyelani (66) Crafts tourism (18) No formal Married Ntateko (55) Crafts Tourism (20) Primary Married Tshembani (63) Crafts tourism (19) Primary Widowed Lirhandzo (33) Food operations (4) Vocational Single Ntsako (42) Food operations (6) Secondary Married Tinyeleti (38) Food operations (4) Secondary Married Akisani (55) Crafts tourism (10) Primary Married Makuleke Tsundzukani (44) Crafts tourism (18) Primary Married Wizanani (50) Crafts tourism (23) No formal Married Khesani (38) Crafts tourism (8) Secondary Divorced Ntiyiso (40) Crafts tourism (12) Secondary Married Miyetani (52) Traditional dances (20) Primary Married Rhulani (90) Spiritual tourism (61) No formal Widowed Miyeto (72) Spiritual tourism (44) No formal Widowed 5.6.2.1 Age The second column of Table 5-1 indicates the pseudonyms of the research participants and their respective ages. The participants were asked their age to determine whether becoming an entrepreneur depended on age and the nature of the entrepreneurial activities in which the participants in the different age groups are involved. Most of the participants are aged between 30 and 45 years, and all the entrepreneurs involved in food operations are in this age group. 102 None of the participants were below the age of 30 thirty years; food operations activities provided the youngest participants (Tsakani and Lirhando, -33 years). Spiritual tourism had the oldest participant (Rhulani, -90 years). This highlights that the younger and more energetic women are involved in entrepreneurial activities that are strenuous. ―kuluka vuhlalo swivoniwa tank hi swilo leswi olovaka hikuva uswiendla uri tshamile ndzutini ku nga ri dyambyeni‖- Miyetani (beadwork consists of simple tasks that I complete whilst seated under the shade). Khesani said, ―Loko ndzi hiwisile ndzakota ku endla mitirho ya mavoko ka nkarhi lowu ndzito ndzi ri java swoendla‖ (I pursue handicraft during my spare time) further clarifying the simplicity of crafts tourism. Khesani regards her engagement in crafts as a pastime activity she undertakes for the purposes of relaxation. On the contrary food operations businesses are labour intensive and time consuming and Xeluzani aptly captures this; ―Handle ka kuva ka ndzi lava swibya swo tirhisa, ndza pfuna hikhelela mati kutshova tihunyi na ku kumeka leswaku ndzi pfuna ka ku sweka swakudya‖ (Apart from sourcing the ingredients I also fetch water, firewood and have to be present to assist in food preparation). ―Bindzu ra mina rateleriwa hi was wuthlanu ne masiku hikwawo lawa anga ekuwisa kavanhu lava vapfukelako mitirweni, hambiswiritano van ava mina va ndzipfuneta kusweka na ku xavisa swa kudya swa mina‖-Ntsako (The business is brisk particularly on Fridays and during public holidays; my children will help me in preparing the food and serving as well). Ntsako‘s explanations indicate that the food operations business is labour intensive, and the younger women are energetic. The researcher observed that none of the participants were below the age of 30 years and the researcher concluded that this is a result of cultural values and the communities‘ expected behaviours of the women below the age of 30 years. The young women below the age of 30 years are either single or recently married. The former still depend on their families‘ support and some bear the prospect of being formally employed having recently completed their formal education. In Shangaan culture, the recently married women stay with their in-laws for some time and during this period they rely on the support from their in- laws. At the same time, their families are young and empty nests which means less financial burden on their part hence no push factors to stimulate them to start their own ventures. 103 The case communities also regard young women as vulnerable and subject to exploitation and hence they are overly protected. The single women represent future wealth in the form of ‗lobola‘ when married well and the community regards staying out late at night as ill-mannered for young girls. Consequently, the cultural values and societal expectations of the young women inhibit them from venturing into tourism entrepreneurship initiatives. Rural women start their tourism enterprises when they are aged between 30 and 45 years (Koutsou et al., 2009) and the participants in this study were no exception. Infact, most of the participants started their tourism ventures when they were between the ages 26 and 30 years. Hleketani, now aged 38 years started her food operations business when she was 29 years old and Tsundzukani started handicrafts when she was 26 years old. Hleketani attributes her early involvement in tourism entrepreneurship to the training and support she got from SEVACA, a local NGO that was operational in the Sengwe community in the early 2000s. Tsundzukani said that her late grandmother introduced her to handicrafts during her teenage years. She went on to say that, ―Endzaku kalembe ra magidi mabirhi, ebandla ralava vavonaka hi swa swiharhi swa nhova va vuyile na vanhu vuhama handle kamatiko emugangeni wa hina, leswaku va ta xava vuhlalu. Leswi swi nga vangela leswaku ndzi hundzela mahlweni na mitirho ya mina ya mavoko‖ (…..around the year 2000, Wilderness Safaris brought international tourists to the village. The tourists bought necklaces and bracelets, and this pushed me to pursue handicrafts). Hleketani and Tsandadzani‘s sentiments made the researcher realise that NGOs and private players played a crucial role in stimulating tourism entrepreneurship in the Sengwe and Makuleke communities through training and support and assisting the entrepreneurs with a ready market for their products. From this perspective, the lack of entrepreneurial zeal among the young women aged below 30 years can be a result of the withdrawal of donor support and assistance for both communities. The lack of zeal to pursue culturally-based tourism entrepreneurship among the women presently aged below 30 years might also be attributed to the inability of the nature-based CBT projects to provide significant economic benefits at household level (Louw, 2010). This age group is better educated and will be pursuing either tertiary education or in search of better economic opportunities in the urban areas. 5.6.2.2 Civil status The research participants were also asked about their marital status to see if this had any positive or negative effects on their entrepreneurial experiences and skills. The research participants‘ marital status consists of the married, widowed, single and divorced. The married women constitute the greatest population (12) and the single women had the fewest research 104 participants (1). The study subjects also include widowed (6) and divorced women (2), an indication that culturally-based tourism entrepreneurship is pursued by all women regardless of their civil status. The participants concurred with Koutsou et al.'s (2009) assertion that the involvement of the women aged between 30 and 45 years is motivated by the desire to meet the familial demands that include children‘s school fees, clothing and food. The in-depth discussions with the research participants revealed that married women participated in tourism entrepreneurial initiatives because of the need to support their families and the desire to have financial freedom. Most of the married women also indicated that they can sustain their ventures because of the support they received from their husbands and family members. The participation of more married women in entrepreneurial initiatives reflects the Shangaan culture that puts more emphasis on family values (that is, getting married and taking care of the in-laws and other family members). 5.6.2.3 Education Education is an important variable (Ahuja, 2012) that shapes an entrepreneur‘s skills and experiences. The data gathered from the research participants revealed that women with different educational backgrounds have sustained their entrepreneurial initiatives. Only Lirhando had acquired vocational training specific to the tourism industry, whilst six participants had done basic education at primary level, ten participants indicated having attended secondary education whilst five participants had no formal education. The lack of formal education could be the reason the entrepreneurial initiatives have recorded stagnant growths over the years. Formal education plays an integral part in the performance and management of an entrepreneurial venture as well as tapping into other tourism opportunities. Discussions with the research participants brought to the fore the value of local knowledge systems and informal learning in the enhancement of rural women‘s tourism entrepreneurship. SEVACA played a crucial role in the Sengwe community by providing training support, technical support and marketing (for the crafts). Nhlamulo said, ―SEVACA yihi dyondyisile eku hi hlayisa mali hirhi mitlawa. Hi fanele hi kutsala hansi yi nghenaku na leyi yi humaka‖ (SEVACA taught us to do savings as groups and to keep records for our everyday financial transactions). The research participants have been able to successfully utilise the knowledge they gained from the workshops conducted by NGOs. They, in turn, are teaching their relatives the same concepts thereby reducing chances of failure for the new entrants. The knowledge transfers are 105 taking place when the entrepreneurs ask their immediate family members and relatives to assist them in their daily household chores. 5.6.2.4 Household size All the participants revealed that the number of dependents was above five per household. The dependents were mostly school going age and the elderly, and the working age group, especially males, migrate to towns and cities. Most of the participants revealed that they have six children. Lirhando, in particular, stated that she supports her three children as well as her parents and grandmother. The burden of caregiving and family responsibilities are even more pronounced in the case of Khesani and Ntinyiko who are divorced, and the ventures are their only sources of income. Both revealed that their children are now in secondary education and they have to cater for the school fees. Faced with this scenario, the participants are challenged to pursue entrepreneurship because of the need to add to family income (Ahuja, 2012). This is further reinforced by Amin's (2010) conclusions that women-owned enterprises support extended families despite being small in size. They also undertake tourism ventures as it allows them to balance performing household chores and entrepreneurial tasks. In a nutshell, the profiles of rural women provide a background that is critical in understanding the experiences of rural women entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial skills that they possess. Apart from revealing that the research participants are a heterogeneous group based on the socio-economic characteristics, the profiling of the participants also helped to understand how the socio-economic characteristics influence the entrepreneurial initiatives. 5.6.3 Characteristics of CBCTV This section provides a brief outlook of the characteristics of the CBCTV owned by rural women. The ventures are forms of CBT because they are developed by rural women who are permanent residents of rural areas with connections and cultural attachments to the case communities. In this study, evidence revealed that the participants are involved in crafts, food, traditional dance and spiritual tourism and there are no entrepreneurs offering homestays, tour guiding and village tours. This is because they lack the management and marketing experience to initiate village tours, for example, and the same observations were made for the Sudanese women entrepreneurs (Welsh et al., 2013). Figure 5-7 provides a summary of the years the ventures have been established. 106 Figure 5-7: Trends in the establishment of culturally-based tourism ventures 14 12 10 8 6 Series 1 4 2 0 before 2008 2009-2013 2014-2017 Time Figure 5-7 depicts that most CBCTV were established prior to the year 2008 and the interactions with the participants reveal that the years between 1998 and 2002 witnessed most tourism entrepreneurship creation. Twelve participants indicated that they started their ventures during this period. This is in sync with Welsh et al.'s (2013) earlier conclusions that NGOs positively influence rural women to establish their own enterprises. It is imperative to understand that this period was marked with increased tourist inflows coupled with external agency participation. Only three participants indicated having established their ventures between 2014 and 2017, an indication that there was a continuous decline in the number of new entrants who managed to sustain their ventures. Donor support has declined over the years (Shehab, 2011) hence the lack of tourism entrepreneurship stimuli. The participants‘ continued involvement depicts both resilience and the ability to sustain the ventures. All the CBCTV established in the case communities are micro, owner managed, employing fewer than five people and with very little assets (Perks & Struwig, 2005). In this respect, only two participants indicated that they inherited the ventures from their elders whilst the rest established the ventures themselves. The participants invested small amounts in activities related to their daily chores to tap into the tourist market. Koutsou et al. (2009) revealed the same entrepreneurial characteristic in the Greek context and attribute this scenario to the lack of collateral security that deters rural women to borrow from banks. The small amounts invested constrain the participants from growing their ventures. 107 Total established The study revealed that the CBCTV are located at the homesteads or at nearby shopping centres. In this respect, all the participants involved in spiritual tourism host the tourists in their respective homesteads and those involved in craft tourism pursue crafts in their backyards. The experiences generated from spiritual tourism are associated with the place making it difficult to replicate the acts in a staged environment. Although entrepreneurs design the beadwork in the comfort of their homes, they interact with tourists at the amphitheatre in the case of the Makuleke women. The women involved in crafts mainly make use of festivals to interact with tourists and sell their crafts. When the entrepreneurs undertake their entrepreneurship activities in their homes they will also be able to also take care of their household chores (Gidarakou, 2015) The married research participants highlighted that their families and husbands were a source of finance, moral support and labour that helped them to sustain their entrepreneurial initiatives. At 90 years, Rhulani is able to satisfy her guests‘ demands because her granddaughter assists her with sourcing the herbs, doing household chores and pricing the different tourism services that she offers. According to Nhlamulo, ―….ngamu kumbe nuna wa mina wa ndzi pfuneta kuthsovela na kurwala tihunyi na ku ni heleketa ndlwini loko ndzi hetile ku xavisa‖- (….my husband assists me with fetching firewood and accompanying me when I close business at night). In the same vein, Amukelani happily pointed out that she does not incur any costs in the sourcing of goats and chickens from nearby villages as it is the responsibility of her brother. ―Ku lungiselela khuva kumbe tlangu lowu u yendliwaka lembe na lembe endhawini ya Muhlanguleni, ku lava ntsengo ya yikulu. Hikokwalaho ngamu ya mina yani pfuna hi ntsongo leswaku bindzu ra mina ri humelela‖, said Tshembani- (The preparations for the cultural fair that is held annually at Muhlanguleni requires a lot of capital and my husband assist me with the finances). The entrepreneur‘s narratives clearly demonstrate the different forms of support enjoyed by rural women entrepreneurs. More importantly, the participants rely on family and close acquaintances for labour. The researcher deduced that most of the ‗employees‘ would have failed to migrate to urban cities or secure jobs in nature-based enterprises in the case communities for various reasons. 5.6.4 Research themes The data collected from semi-structured interviews and participant observations enabled the researcher to identify three broad themes: participant experiences, participants‘ entrepreneurial 108 skills and entrepreneurship outcomes. These broad themes and subthemes are presented in Table 5-2. The themes were developed in line with the objectives of the study. Furthermore, despite coding the data into themes and creating a table, the analysis reveals that these themes are also fluid. Thus, certain issues are cross cutting and are addressed in several sections, although they are approached from different viewpoints. Table 5-2: Summary of the emerging research themes Themes Sub-theme Participant experiences  Nature of tourism entrepreneurship activities  Daily entrepreneurship experiences  Interactive experiences  Work-life balance Entrepreneurship skills  Identifying participants‘ entrepreneurship skills  Entrepreneurship skills acquisition and development  Entrepreneurship skills and sustainability Entrepreneurship outcome  Influence on household assets  Venture outcome and household support  Impact on community life 5.7 Chapter summary The case communities are poor in resources, and this affects the entrepreneurial initiatives pursued by the community members. The proximity of both communities to major national parks benefits the communities as tourists attracted to the parks end up visiting the communities. The favourable geographical location offers the case communities the opportunity to develop ventures that seek to meet the needs of the tourists. The participants‘ socio-economic characteristics indicate that culturally-based tourism activities are a non-deliberate strategy that is pursued by women of different backgrounds. Despite the notable differences inherent within the study subjects, the evidence reveals that rural women begin their entrepreneurial activities during their early 30s. This chapter provided a holistic analysis of place-based contexts of tourism entrepreneurship which helped to understand the way that rural women undertake their everyday entrepreneurial 109 activities and the resultant experiences. The place-based lens also assists in explaining the social and symbolic dynamics of culturally-based tourism activities in the case communities (Müller & Korsgaard, 2018). Apart from giving an outlook of the atmosphere in which the entrepreneurs operate, the contextualisation of the research also explains the characteristics of rural communities that might be missing in the existing literature. The next chapter considers the experiences of the participants as a result of pursuing CBCTV. The explanations of the participants‘ everyday life in the context of entrepreneurship unearth their skill sets or lack thereof during their interactions with the tourists, development of the CBCTV and in striking the balance between entrepreneurial work and reproductive work. 110 CHAPTER 6: RURAL TOURISM WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS’ EXPERIENCES 6.1 Introduction Rural settings are popular retreat and relaxation areas (Löfgren, 2012) and provide a space in which family life is celebrated. Rural women in the Sengwe and Makuleke communities diversify their incomes through displaying natural and cultural elements as tourist attractions. Rural tourism in the case communities is an experience lived and co-created by tourists, tourism entrepreneurs and the host community. This chapter focuses on the experiences of rural women as tourism entrepreneurs to better understand their entrepreneurial initiatives and the resultant skills that help to sustain their enterprises. The focus is on highlighting the experiences of rural women tourism entrepreneurs both as creative and reflexive individuals. Such a presentation deviates from the norm of analysing the global and national impact of tourism to dwell on the impact of tourism at household level. Apart from localising the tourism perspectives from the perspective of rural women entrepreneurs, the ensuing discussion also puts into perspective the participants‘ day to day entrepreneurship experiences, interactive experiences and work-life balances. 6.2 Rural women’s experiences Rural women in most developing countries carry the burden of life and play crucial roles in the socio-economic progress of their respective communities (Ahuja, 2012). The rationale behind this study was to investigate the various ways in which rural women participate in CBCTV and identify the ways in which rural women have acquired entrepreneurial skills. These aims were attained through an analysis of the participants‘ daily experiences in the CBCTV. The interpretation of the participants‘ experiences was done through an analysis of the elements of entrepreneurship (section 2.3) focusing on the context in which the CBCTV ventures were developed and the entrepreneurial activities that are undertaken to sustain the ventures. The participants‘ narratives provide insights into the nature and the current state of rural tourism ventures run by rural women in the case communities. 6.2.1 Nature of tourism entrepreneurial activities The wildlife and, indigenous culture, coupled with unique historic, ethnic and geographic characteristics provides opportunities for rural tourism entrepreneurship (Mafunzwaini & Hugo, 111 2005). Rural women entrepreneurs in the Sengwe and Makuleke communities have capitalised on their culture and the rural nature of their locations in coming up with entrepreneurial activities. The entrepreneurial initiatives that rural women have initiated and sustained include; crafts, traditional dances, catering and spiritual tourism. Figure 6-1 summarises the tourism entrepreneurial initiatives pursued by the research participants in the Sengwe and Makuleke communities based on the researcher‘s experiences and observations during the field visits. Figure 6-1: CBCTV in the case communities 7 6 5 4 3 Sengwe 2 Makuleke 1 0 Food Crafts Traditional Spiritual dances Activity The research findings indicate that the dominant tourism activities among rural women in the Sengwe and Makuleke communities are food tourism and craft tourism respectively. The researcher noted that six of the participants in the Sengwe community are engaged in catering and five of the participants in the Makuleke community are engaged in crafts and traditional dances. Rural women are pursuing activities that are rewarding in their locality. In the Sengwe community, catering has highest returns because it is a stopover point for illegal immigrants crossing to South Africa and Mozambique. Besides the fact that crafts and traditional dances are rewarding in the Makuleke community, most rural women entrepreneurs are mature. In this case, six of the participants in the Makuleke community were above 40 years old. They, undertake activities that are less demanding whilst the cultural dances provide them with a platform to participate in CBT. What emerges from the cases under study is that the dominance of one form of tourism venture over the other is a result of an attempt by the participants to meet the day to day situational demands of their livelihoods. This is in sync with Mayaka's (2015) observations that rural entrepreneurs‘ actions are guided by the need to improve their welfare or adapt to the changes in the external environment. CBCTV provide the participants with an alternative source of income in the face of drought and the devastating effects of cyclone Idai. 112 No involved Rural women have been able to tap into the opportunities presented by their cultural and historical heritage, while overlooking opportunities presented by the preserved natural resources, agriculture, rural landscapes and traditional rural hospitality. The entrepreneurial activities of women in the case communities are shaped by both culture and geography. The cultural regulation of the tourism entrepreneurial activities includes aspects like the notion that women‘s place is the home. This restricts women to pursue activities that are either done whilst they are at home or aid them in delivering the household work. The division of work based on gender is also noticeable in the case communities; women are regarded as inferior and weak and hence cannot guide tourists on either village tours or nature walks for example. This is supported by the researcher‘s observation that all the guides in the Makuleke community are men. Rural women entrepreneurs‘ successes in the tourism economy are hinged on the Shangaan culture that is highly receptive and hospitable to the tourists. This tranquillity, coupled with the uniqueness of the culture as highlighted by the dress, crafts, customs, traditions and beliefs provides a conducive environment for tourism to flourish. 6.2.1.1 Craft village tourism Craft tourism is a popular activity that forms a critical component of the cultural tourism product and an attraction in its own right when fully fledged. Bakas (2014) cites the Murlano glass (Italy) and the Lace (Brussels) as handicrafts that are attractions in their own right. The Sengwe and Makuleke communities meet Gao and Wu's (2017) definition criteria of traditional villages as more than 30% of the households have been involved in handicrafts for generations. 43% percent of the participants are involved in craft tourism and produce handicrafts that provide a cultural identity or a symbol of the Shangaan culture. The women entrepreneurs produce items such as waistbands, and necklaces shown in Figure 6-2 113 Figure 6-2: Sample of crafts produced by the participants Source: Own photograph These products are unique and identifiable with the Shangaan culture and interactions with the participants revealed that beads have a great value in the Shangaan culture. The main photograph depicts the necklaces, bracelets and handicrafts that were on display at the Makuleke community centre (MCC). Wizanani postulated that the beads bring a sense of pride and dignity among the Shangani women and also help in distinguishing girls from women. The value of the beadwork is emphasised by the local tourists especially the urban dwellers as they reconnect with their past. ―naswona swa pfuna vanghana na maxaka madhoropeni nale ke ma n‘wani matiko ofana na Mozambique na kolomu Zimbabwe‖, she added- (friends and relatives who visit us from the city and also our colleagues from Zimbabwe and Mozambique). Khesani further explained this point saying, ―xikongomelo xa vuhlalu I xa ku tinyungubyisa na ku ti tivisa eku wena u we ndhavuko we Matsonga kumbe we Mavhenda kumbe Mazulu. O wihi? Nakona swa kombisa ku hambana ka manana na n‘hwanyana‖ (The purposes of the necklaces and bracelets are for both fashion and identity. In as much as the Zulus use 114 black and white in their beadwork, the Vendas use green, blue and white and us the Shanganis‘ dominant colours are blue, black, brown and green for adults and purple, red, pink and yellow for girls). In addition, the size of the beads helps to determine whether the product is meant for adults or for girls; beadwork for the adult women is made from big beads and girls‘ products are made of smaller beads. Deductively, the head band in the insert above is meant for girls because the dominant colours used are purple and white and the beads are small. Nonetheless, international tourists purchase the necklaces and bracelets as a reminder of their visit to the case communities. The research participants highlighted that they explain to the tourists of the meanings associated with the handicrafts but, in most cases, the tourists are interested in the attractiveness of the patterns. Apart from the traditional products such as waistbands and necklaces, the entrepreneurs also develop souvenirs such as the containers on the photograph front to meet the tourists‘ demand. As such, Balint and Mashinya (2006) conclude that opportunities to shop gifts and souvenirs are part of the tourist experience. The beadwork on the bottles in Figure 6-2 was done by Miyetani. She said that the colours she used are a depiction of the South African national flag. The idea is to enable the international tourists to attach a sense of place to the souvenir. In addition, the handicrafts have a positive influence on the appeal of the overall tourism product enjoyed in the case communities. The ‗xibelana‘, a handwoven skirt that women wear together with the waist laces during dances enhances the performing arts. In this case, even when the tourists‘ purpose of visit is not craft tourism, the supportive role of the handicrafts to tourism in general, and performance arts in particular, is critical in enhancing tourist perceptions of the quality of the tourism product. 115 Figure 6-3: Makuleke GG entertains tourists at the amphitheatre Source: Own photograph The photograph depicts tourists joining the Makuleke GG dance group entertaining tourists at the Makuleke Cultural Centre. The regalia worn by the performers (with pink blouses in the above photograph) is hand woven. The ‗xibhelana‘ has been used to enhance performing arts during community ceremonies. The performances of the dance group are influenced by the historical past of the Makuleke that include their connection with nature, their own identity, the forced removal from Old Makuleke Village, their past life at Pafuri, their present life experiences and what they look forward to. The performing arts are a source of wealth creation (Matondi, 2011), and the participants have hardly pushed their music, dances and poetry to prominence to the same levels as Burkina Faso‘s Djembe and the Democratic Republic of Congo‘s Kwasa- kwasa dances. The researcher realised that craft tourism is more pronounced in the Makuleke community. Collective entrepreneurship is most pronounced in this sector and one of the entrepreneurs attributed this to the nature of the work that requires group effort. 6.2.1.2 Food tourism Hall and Sharpes (2003) define food/culinary tourism as travelling to a destination primarily motivated by the need to taste food and participate in food and beverages festivals typical of 116 that area. The researcher observed that food is hardly the primary reason tourists visit the Sengwe and Makuleke communities. The food preparation methods and food festivals such as the bullfrog harvesting are rarely marketed. Rather, food in the case communities seeks to meet the tourists‘ physiological needs and little effort is made to improve the related supporting experiences. All this is against Quan and Wang's (2004) view that food experiences are part of the overall tourist experiences and influence the communities‘ attractiveness. The understanding of food as part of the tourism system can best be illustrated through an appreciation of the preparation processes, consumption and associated atmosphere. The food operators, particularly in the Sengwe community prepare meals using resources from their locality. They outline that local foods are their selling point as tourists are in search of an escape from their everyday eating routines. In supporting this, Ntinyiko said, ―Tihuku ta ndhavuko na tinhwembe tamakwembe iswakudya leswi swi ngana vuyelo yayikulu‖. (Mopani worms, traditional chickens and roasted pumpkin seeds are the most profitable food items). Ntinyiko‘s narration actually supports Quan and Wang‘s (2004) assertion that visitors are in search of authentic and appealing experiences. The food operators like Ntinyiko and Nhlamulo are serving meals that narrate their everyday way of life and are linked to how they live. ―Hina hitshembile eka swirin‘wa swa ndhavuko hikuva hikona hikumaka swakudya leswi hidyaka swona. Leswi swivangela leswaku hikota kupfuna vamakhelanwi vahina lava vanga ka miganga leyi y inga ku suhi na hina. Siendla leswaku kitirhisa vaakelani vahina leswaku hikuma timbuti natihuku‖ - (Xeluzani) (We rely on our own agricultural produce for the ingredients that we use in preparing our meals. There has been a surge in demand for our products, and we make use of our relatives in nearby villages to source particularly goats and chickens on our behalf). The above assertion elaborates that the food operators often travel great distances to maintain the quality and to meet the expectations of the tourists. The emphasis is also in the selection of suppliers and Xeluzani further said, ―Ndihlawulile varhiri lava vanga tiyimelela hicivina leswaku leswaku vatirhisa vutivi na vutsunguri bya ndavuko loko kuhumelela vuvabyi nakusirhelela‖ (I choose those farmers who practice free range and make use of traditional remedies in the event of disease outbreak or for vaccination). In this regard, the food operators appreciate that the surge in demand is directly linked to the tourists‘ search for real experiences relating to their culture. Furthermore, the researcher noted that the knowledge and skills relating to the preparation process is being passed from generation to generation. 117 ―Mhani n‘wingi va mina va ndzi dyondisile maswekele aswakudya swa ndhavuko‖-(Amukelani). (My mother-in- law taught me how to prepare the dishes). It is safe to conclude that the community‘s culture heavily influences the type of food prepared and the whole preparation process. The demand for food is not only influenced by the quality of the food, it also encompasses the ambience, food presentation and the employee dressing as well. It is interesting to note that the catering facilities at Corner 18 are grass thatched and constructed using bricks as shown in the photograph below. It is the researcher‘s opinion that such a structure adds negatively to the overall dining experience and an ideal facility could have been constructed using the design of the local cooking huts. The design and decoration of the local huts is shown in the insert. Figure 6-4: A food serving area in Sengwe and structure of a traditional kitchen (insert) Source: own photograph Both Hleketani and Ntinyiko pointed out their desire to have beautiful structures but argued that they constructed the semi-permanent facilities because the rural district council is yet to regularise the area for development. Other operators like Nhlamulo noted that the costs that are associated with construction of a more permanent structure led them to construct semi- permanent structures as shown above. The food is typically presented as below: 118 Figure 6-5: Food presentation Source: own photograph A closer assessment reveals that the food is served on a modern plate made of steel. This negatively impacts the authenticity of the overall meal experience. The general presentation of the food needs improvement, especially against the backdrop of tourists who are more knowledgeable and more demanding. Tourists share their experiences on social media using photographs which affect future tourist buying behaviour. The researcher observed that all the employees do not have uniforms; they wore clothes with the countryside characteristic that include decency and no female was wearing trousers. The older women wore the traditional dress typical of the Shangaan women. The employees together with the food operators observe activities that are part of the Shangaan culture that include; initiating greetings, serving men first and kneeling when serving the food. These aspects help in creating a rural dining experience enabling the tourists to escape their everyday routine (Quan & Wang, 2004). In a nutshell, the whole dining experience is evaluated as a total; there is a need for the food operators to consider all the factors that influence the tourists‘ dining experience. 6.2.1.3 Spiritual tourism Much of the literature about the Sengwe and Makuleke communities focuses on natural resources conservation, transfrontier conservation, human-wildlife conflict and nature-based CBT (Giampiccoli et al., 2015b; Goodwin & Santilli, 2009; Spenceley, 2008; Spenceley, 2005). Data gathered in this study reveal the existence of cultural tourism, notably spiritual tourism. As much as there are many individuals involved in spirituality and religion, only three participants met the research criteria (that is, they generate tourism services, employ one or more persons and have sustained their ventures for more than two years). The participants (Hitahlula, Rhulani and Miyeto) host both domestic and international tourists who have keen interest in spirituality and religion. This is evidenced by the inclusion of Rhulani, a traditional healer in the Makuleke community, on the travel itinerary for tourists visiting the Makuleke community from the Pafuri. 119 All the participants concurred that tourists are motivated to consume their products and services to experience the communities‘ customs, learn about African traditions, and in search of spiritual healing and physical wellness. It is interesting to note that Rhulani and Miyeto revealed that tourist experiences in the context of spirituality is characterised by imitating the healing process and how they administer herbs and/or predict likely events to the tourists. In addition, Rhulani added that, apart from the 30-minute performances, she characterises for international tourists, she occasionally hosts students and academic researchers and conducts lectures about plant medicinal use and African traditions in general. All this explains spiritual tourism as a part of leisure travel (Norman, 2014). The participants also explained spiritual tourism in the context of healing and wellness. This segment is dominated by individuals from other communities, cities and regional countries that are in search of solutions for everyday life problems (Tomljenović & Dukić, 2017). The individuals‘ search for divine help defines them as tourists and their contributions towards household livelihoods cannot be overemphasised. In this case, the participants act as hosts and facilitate the visitors to also experience the communities‘ cuisine, lifestyle and traditions while in search of their psychological or physical wellness. The participants also explained that the tourist experiences are enjoyed even by individuals that do not subscribe to the traditional systems. This is in line with Banerjee's (2015) observations that spiritual tourism is a non- religious and experiential desire that is borne out of the quest to learn a particular community‘s traditions. 6.3 The participants’ experiences relating to entrepreneurial work-life harmony Friedman and Greenhaus (2000) note that organisations have tried to increase productivity among employees through the formulation of policies and programmes that are aimed at ensuring that employees strike a balance between their work and life commitments. However, the desire to achieve and maintain a work-life balance results in people feeling even more stressed (Friedman et al., 2014). In the same vein, the participants are also exposed to the competing need to create a balance between the demands of their entrepreneurial initiatives on one hand and the life demands (home needs, the broader community and themselves) on the other. There is a blurred line dividing the daily chores. For example, one can do the beadwork whilst doing the cooking and the food left from the catering establishment can be brought home for dinner. Such interconnectedness between and among the daily chores and the multitasking of the participants led the researcher to use the term harmony instead of balance. This is also informed from the view that using the term ‗balance‘ denotes that work and life are competing variables. In essence, the entrepreneurial and personal commitments often lead to the same desire of enhancing household livelihoods. 120 ―…….nkoka na migingiriko ya mina I kurhima kuendla mitirho yale mutini yikatsaka kusweka, vuswikoti bya kubasisa ndyangu na mbangu na ku vona hi swa rihanyu ra vana‖-Tshembani. (………and my responsibilities include tilling the land, performing household tasks that include food preparation, hygiene and health care of children and fetching water and firewood). In addition to the responsibilities mentioned by Tshembani, the participants also stated that they are involved in community work (the older women engage in initiation and rainmaking ceremonies and attend traditional gatherings). The situation is even more complex for Xeluzani. As the household head she also has to fend for the family and aptly said ―…migingiriko hikwayo leyi endliwaka endyangwini kutika na kuvevuka kaswona swivoniwa ni mina‖ (…all the family caregiving responsibilities; the burden of feeding and sustaining the family rests with me) Tshembani and Xeluzani‘s narratives lead one to conclude that entrepreneurial initiatives are an additional load to the already burdened rural women. On the contrary, most of the participants highlighted that the entrepreneurial initiatives provide a means to ease their burden. Hleketani clearly notes that she uses the income earned from her enterprise to hire individuals to till her fields. In the same vein, Ntsako quickly points out that she has engaged a housemaid to assist her with the household chores thereby giving her more time to concentrate on her beadwork. The researcher observed that such harmonious fulfilment of the entrepreneurial activities and the household activities has been noticeable amongst those involved in crafts and traditional dances. It is even more noticeable in the Makuleke community where women have more alternative sources of earning income and the local municipality also provides them with tapped water and electricity. In the case of Tsakani, she has to travel to South Africa using an illegal entry point and buy such items as cooking oils, detergents and soups for both domestic and entrepreneurial use. The whole ordering process is strenuous, often resulting in her being away from her home for more than two days. Neither tapped water nor electricity is available in the Sengwe community which further adds her duties of fetching water and gathering firewood. The water and firewood will be needed both for the family and the catering facility. The researcher notes that fetching water, gathering firewood and cooking itself are tiresome activities that Tsakani conducts every day. Her situation is worsened by the fact that the catering facility is open from 11: 00 until 02:00. She concedes that the daily activities are tiresome but was quick to point out the lucrative income. All this points to childcare and entrepreneurial activities as competing activities that are part and parcel of Tsakani‘s daily encounters. Rural women entrepreneurs are expected to perform certain responsibilities based on their status in the family and those involved in entrepreneurship are no exception. The roles that are 121 played in a family by a woman include being a wife, mother, aunty, daughter and caretaker (Agarwal & Lenka, 2015). 95% of the participants are of the opinion that entrepreneurial work is part and parcel of their roles. The fact remains that participants, like Akisani, believe that handicrafts provide them with an ‗escape‘ from the daily household duties. Akisani‘s own venture enables her to improve her own life and overall household‘s well-being. Instead of being preoccupied with the reproductive and community work, the entrepreneurial work provides rural women entrepreneurs with a new focus. For instance, Ntiyiso participates in performing arts and they meet regularly to perfect their plays. These interactions are a source of learning and sharing of ideas. Akisani points out that she does the beadwork during her own ‗free‘ time. Such scheduling means that she has to complete her domestic (childcare, cooking, sweeping, fetching water) and community work (attending community ceremonies and events) before engaging in beadwork. Little time is allocated to beadwork, for example, because it represents an alternative source of income that supplements the family‘s means of survival. The scheduling enables the women entrepreneurs to fulfill their expected family and community roles and this prevents conflicts. 6.4 Chapter summary This chapter explored the entrepreneurs‘ experiences in their interactions with tourists, thereby providing a narrative from the hosts‘ perspective. The evidence from the research reveals that the participants‘ ventures were created to meet the community‘s needs and satisfying the tourists‘ needs is an attempt to earn additional income. The tourism ventures offer products and services that are not provided by the private sector tourism players which improve the appeal of the overall tourism product in the case communities. This chapter details the different forms in which CBCTV have been developed and how their operations are sustained. The major challenges highlighted by the entrepreneurs in the Sengwe community include; poor roads and communication networks, distant markets and poor institutional support frameworks. Despite these challenges, there are notable similarities to the entrepreneurs in different CBCTV and operating in different geographical areas. For example, all the food operators prepare their meals using firewood while those involved in crafts prepare their beadwork using thread and needle. The development of the tourism products have been guided by local knowledge systems. Nonetheless, the desire to meet the tourists‘ demand has led to improvements in the tourism products as evidenced by designs depicting the South African flag, production of souvenirs in the case of crafts in the Makuleke community and the serving of international beverages by the food operators in both communities. The manner in which the entrepreneurs balance their entrepreneurial work and the reproductive work is also revealed in this chapter. 122 The next chapter identifies the different skills sets possessed by entrepreneurs and also highlights the skills deficits. 123 CHAPTER 7: RURAL WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS 7.1 Introduction This chapter is informed by the assertion that human and social capital are important entrepreneurial elements that influence the success of a venture (Hultman & Hill, 2011) and will specifically detail the participants‘ entrepreneurial skills. Entrepreneurial skills in tourism relate to the practical know-how and expert ways in which an individual accomplishes tourism related activities proficiently (Meyer & Synodinos, 2019). The entrepreneurial skills are novel and go beyond the managerial tasks to include the creation of new businesses and capitalisation of emerging opportunities (Johnson et al., 2015). Although Chell (2013) distinguishes abilities and skills in the context of entrepreneurship; there is a blurred line differentiating the two and these differences are overlooked. The findings reveal that rural women have managed to sustain different tourism businesses that include food operations, craft tourism and spiritual tourism. The mere creation of the tourism ventures is a skill in itself and the sustenance of the same for more than two years indicates that rural women have the necessary entrepreneurial skills. This chapter will explain how the participants‘ entrepreneurial skills were developed, the specific entrepreneurial skills displayed by the participants, and their perceptions of these skills. 7.2 Identifying the participants’ entrepreneurial skills Hartog et al. (2010) categorised the entrepreneurial skills as cognitive (technical, leadership, administrative and finance) and non-cognitive (socialisation, networking and communication). A closer analysis of these skills led the researcher to conclude that entrepreneurial skills encompass abilities, talents and management capacities endowed by the entrepreneur that are vital in ensuring business success. The researcher made use of Johnson et al.‘s (2015) framework which notes entrepreneurial skills as identifying new markets and creation of new products, environmental scanning and formulating strategies to exploit identified opportunities. The framework helps to identify the themes relating to the entrepreneurial skills possessed by rural women within a contextualised tourism environment (both rurality and gender) and at a personal level. The entrepreneurial skills are multi-dimensional with different combination sets for each participant. They are shaped by an entrepreneur‘s knowledge, affection, experiences and the context in which the tourism activities are undertaken. This presents each participant as a key player in the process of skills identification; their experiences and own narratives are crucial in this study. The researcher‘s main tasks were limited to analysing the entrepreneurs‘ narratives and substantiating them with observations of how these skills were, or were not utilised. 124 7.2.1 The skills for overall business planning and goal setting Business planning and goal setting is centred on the long term performance of the venture; the focus is on evaluating the business. The participants are involved in different forms of CBT ventures but there are marked similarities relating to their planning and goal setting processes. The participants‘ overarching goal is to ensure their ventures succeed beyond their lifetime. For instance, all the participants regard their ventures as part and parcel of the family assets rather than personal possessions and firmly believe that their ventures will be bequeathed to the next generation. Wizanani for example, shares the story of how she inherited the venture from her late grandmother, and she explains how it is her responsibility to ―… sweswi nile ku dyondyiseni ka mun‘wani kurhi ata sala akha aendla bindzu leri‖ (….groom the next person to run the enterprise‖. There is no set business vision or goals that can act as guidelines when deciding if the current performance will help to attain long term goals. The participants shared their optimism and vision of their ventures and they believe in their abilities to sustain the ventures without any formal plans. ―Iro sunghula ku vutisiwa eku ni enhleketa hi vu mundzuku bya mina…… Ni lava ku nyika vukorhokeri ka micato n aka va ntirhela mfumo vakolomu mugangeni‖ -(It‘s the first time I have been asked about my future business plans………….I would like to cater for weddings and other government functions that are held in this community)- Lirhando. Her narrative indicates that she thinks about the future development of the venture and that there are unspoken targets for the venture. Zinyelani also said that she is, ―…ni ehleketa ku xavisa mi ntirho ya mina ya mavoko atihodeleni nale rivaleni ra swihahampfhuka‖ - (planning to sell her crafts in city hotels and at airports). The participants have unspoken and undocumented long term set goals about their enterprises which leads them to implement ad hoc decisions in the event of changing conditions (Morgan et al., 2010). Despite the lack of written plans and clearly spelt out goals, it is imperative to note that the participants possess management skills. Cooney (2012) categorises the entrepreneurial skills as management skills, entrepreneurial skills and technical skills. Pyysiäinen et al. (2006) support this assertion and further state that entrepreneurship skills go beyond the management aspects, although the management skills are crucial for venture success. The management activities are planning, organising, leading and controlling and are essential in undertaking 125 business operations (marketing, human resources, finance and production) and help to ascertain the participants‘ entrepreneurial skills (Johnson et al., 2015). 7.2.1.1 Planning All participants alluded that their entrepreneurial initiatives are motivated by the need to contribute towards their household income. The existence of ventures for more than ten years in the case of Nhlamulo and Ntateko, for example, indicates the careful planning that they undertake. Interactions with the participants indicate that they plan the venture activities beforehand. Ntateko stated that she anticipates high sales during the Great Limpopo Cultural Fair that is annually held at Muhlanguleni in Chiredzi and the Chiredzi Agricultural Show and would make more crafts in preparation of these events. Ntsako also said, ―Maxaka na vanghana va hi endzela/ ku hi vhakela hi mi nkarhi/ ti nghuva ta makhisimusi. Ni va niti lulamisile hi nthlelo ra swa ku sweka hi minkarhi leyo‖ - (our relatives and friends from the city visit our community during the festive holidays……I always have enough stocks for traditional dishes during this period). Visiting friends and relatives is a segment of the domestic tourism; the urbanites are in search of authentic cultural experiences and the ability of Ntsako to serve these traditional dishes guarantees her positive word-of-mouth recommendation and repeat business. This also indicates the forecasting and planning of the entrepreneurs in ensuring that they have enough stock when it is peak season so as to take advantage of this event. 7.2.1.2 Leading ―Hi mina n‘wini wa bindzu leri, hi mina ni tekaka swiboho swa mpimo wa leswi hi swekaka na ku hi swi xava kwihi‖ (I am the one in charge of this business and I decide the quantities to cook and where to source the ingredients) –echoed Nhlamulo. Her sentiments indicate that she acknowledges that her husband has superior authority, but such superiority is not extended to her venture. Ntinyiko has employed five people and two of them have been part of her team since its inception in 2005. The researcher observed that Ntinyiko delegates tasks especially the pre-opening duties such that she takes care of her family needs in the morning. She has managed to train the employees on food preparation and storage (drying and boiling). All this sums up her leadership abilities. 126 7.2.1.3 Organising The need to ensure a balance between the family and enterprise needs has been a complex one among the participants. The participants also had to deal with transport problems, the tourists‘ desire for authentic cultural products and experiences in the face of limited funds to finance the operations. Despite all this, the participants have persevered and often exceed guests‘ expectations. Hatthakijphong and Ting (2019) identified resilience and self-reliance as part of the entrepreneurial skills that ensure continued venture existence even in challenging times. Informal discussions with Tsakani led the researcher to conclude that the Sengwe community‘s location constrains rural women in entrepreneurship development. Rural women have sustained their ventures despite such remoteness and lack of network access primarily due to their organisation and coordination of the work activities. The food operators, Nhlamulo for example, use the relatives in neighbouring communities to source goats and traditional chickens on her behalf. She further exploits the good relations she has built with the bus crew for the ease of ordering and transport of the goods from Chiredzi. The craft entrepreneurs in the Sengwe community attribute their success to their ability to pool resources and source beads from South Africa collectively. The strong organisation exhibited by the participants has ensured their ability to sustain the ventures. 7.2.2 Identifying opportunities as a skill The ever-changing business processes present both opportunities and threats to the entrepreneurs. Johnson et al. (2015) note that the ability to recognise and realise an opportunity is one of the entrepreneurial skills that sustains businesses. The undertaking of tourism ventures presented rural women with the opportunity to diversify their livelihood activities. Their participation in CBTE presents them with new opportunities and there are still opportunities that are yet to be explored and the researcher sought to appreciate the ability of the participants not only to recognise but also exploit the opportunities. The ability of the entrepreneurs to capitalise the opportunities enables them to have a competitive edge over other competitors and competitor destinations; guaranteeing business success. The study of entrepreneurship has been confined to the venture start up process (Johnson et al., 2015) and this section details the ability to create their own or to recognise existing opportunities among existing entrepreneurs. Generally, the participants use opportunities in the environments with which they are familiar. 127 ―Ni kuma muholo/ leswi nghenaku siku na siku, hikokwalaho ka yini ni fanela ku hleketa ti ndlela ti n‘wani ta ku endla mali?‖ (I am getting income every day, why should I think of looking for other ways of making money?), queried Ntinyiko. This indicates that she is reluctant to change the menu, for example, because she thinks such a change will chase her customers away. The incorporation of innovative food serving ways (using chafing dishes) would enhance service quality; Ntinyiko argues that they are expensive. The other opportunities that rural women have not utilised include travel agency, photography, village tours and guided tours. The technological requirements, capital investments and longer periods away from home have been cited by the participants as the reasons why they have not pursued these business opportunities. In this case, the participants are reluctant to change their business strategies and invest in activities that are new to them. The participants, especially the craft entrepreneurs have failed to capitalise on the market opportunities availed by established service providers like hotels. The entrepreneurs‘ ability to collaborate with the hotels would have resulted in their crafts being displayed in the hotels. The researcher realised that the crafts at Pafuri Camp were sourced from Mhinga village and the Outpost did not have any crafts on display. The implication is that the entrepreneurs‘ products will only be limited to their locality and those few tourists who visit them. This is against the background of the understanding that the participants highlighted that they do not have the market to sell their crafts. The ability to embrace advantages emerging from the arising opportunities is a skill linked to an entrepreneur‘s personal attributes that include inner drive, motivation and commitment (Mollel & Kotoroi, 2014). Consequently, the inability of the participants to expand the market of their crafts to lodges in their own park indicates a lack of intrinsic skills. The interconnectedness of the skills also makes it impossible to point to one variable as having a negative bearing on opportunity utilisation. A broader view of the same reveals that the participants have continued to produce unique products (beadwork, healing sessions and experiences and traditional foods) within their own communities. The location results in tourist experiences that cannot be replicated elsewhere thereby giving the entrepreneurs a competitive edge of established tourism players. The tailor-making of crafts, for example, to suit tourist needs and collaboration with lodges in the MCP shows the ability of the entrepreneurs to tap into existing opportunities (Johnson & Scholes, 2005). The social networks enable the entrepreneurs to source funds and find markets for their own products (Morgan et al., 2010) and yet evidence reveals that the entrepreneurs‘ networks are limited to friends, relatives and community members. Although Zinyelani acknowledged that exhibition at such events as the Sanganai Travel expo (Zimbabwe) will boost her sales, she cites the insecurities of travelling to Harare and related travel and accommodation costs as 128 factors that inhibit her. Akisani also said she cannot be away from her family and home to attend the major events. All this indicates that their entrepreneurial activities play second fiddle to motherhood and the participants will capitalise on networks with which they are familiar. This limits the opportunities that they exploit. The participants involved in crafts and spiritual tourism in the Makuleke community have been able to utilise their existing networks and collaborate with the lodges in the MCP. Their products and services are being marketed as part of the package offered by the Pafuri and Outpost lodges which draw tourists to the community, albeit as day tourists (Mollel & Kotoroi, 2014). 7.2.3 The skills of identifying market needs and product development The informal discussion with the participants and observations of the product characteristics were crucial in identifying the entrepreneurial skills among the participants or lack thereof. The two aspects, market needs and product development, are subsequently analysed. 7.2.3.1 Market development The development of the tourism product is largely influenced by the communities‘ culture. The findings reveal that the NGOs played a crucial role in the stimulation of women entrepreneurship tendencies through the provision of technical and financial support. The choice of the participants in the Sengwe community to forgo agricultural productivity and pursue food operations in the face of government support (inputs subsidy and technical assistance) indicates their risk-taking abilities. A market is a place where the exchange of goods and services takes place between the service providers and the tourists. The tourism market is global in nature and involves a number of stakeholders that include tour operators, government agencies, MNCs, NGOs and the local community. It is within the local community that the researcher specifically looked at how the women entrepreneurs have developed their own markets for their products and services. To gain understanding and better explain this aspect, the researcher subdivided the tourism market based on geographic location of the tourists, that is international and domestic markets. The international market in the case communities consists of researchers, international students, academics and leisure travellers. ―Return Africa yi hi rhumela vapfhumba atikweni/ mugangeni va vuyaka hi mutlawa. Hi burisana navo vapfhumba lava hi swa nxavo wa swilo leswi ni nxavisaka‖ – (Return Africa occasionally sends tourists to the village in groups. We directly interact with the tourists and negotiate the prices of our products with them) -Khesani. 129 Within this context, it is imperative to note the development of the international market; the distribution and promotion of the tourism products are undertaken by the external agencies. Rhulani notes that, ―ni tivisiwa vampfhumba vangese fika na leswi valavaku…..vani nyika xikhorwiso andzaku ka loko ni endlile magingiriko ya mina‖ - (I am only informed beforehand to expect the visitors and their expectations…..they give me a token of appreciation after my performance). Shehab (2011) indicates that a visit to a local traditional healer was itemised as part of a half- day itinerary from the Pafuri Camp and the group members would pay ZAR20 (US$1.20) each. The price is very low, which explains why Rhulani considers it a token of appreciation. The private players retain much of the tourist income, confine the tourists to half-day predetermined activities which limits the tourists‘ spending patterns (Leon, 2007). The researcher observed that the dominant tourism in the case communities was pre-planned (packaged tourism). That is, most of the tourist inflows to the Makuleke community are driven by lodges in the MCP; the tourist activities and time spent in the community are determined by these lodges. This form of tourism reduces tourist stay and the tourists will only be confined to certain activities and places; reducing tourist spending. For instance, the Makuleke community receives most of the tourists from the Pafuri Camp and the guests spend half a day in the community with much of the time being spent on travelling from the Camp and at the amphitheatre. The researcher observed that the tourists hurriedly purchased the crafts shortly before departure and were not exposed to other touristic activities outside the amphitheatre. This greatly reduces the potential income for the tourists unlike when the tourists would spend more days within the community. The above narratives indicate that the entrepreneurs lack marketing and technological skills. This results in the entrepreneurs relying only on the marketing efforts of ‗outsiders‘ and the income they earn will be limited as tourists are day visitors. The participants do not have the marketing skills to conduct various promotional methods that include social media marketing, development of websites and reservation systems to communicate directly with potential tourists. In addition, the participants lack the marketing skills to develop their own tourism itinerary and sell it to potential tourists. Consequently, the visitor numbers have been limited to those brought through intermediaries. Carmichael and Ainley (2014) suggest that the booking process can be facilitated through direct marketing processes that include social media sites, e- mailing and direct calling. The absence of these processes among the participants depicts lack of innovation. The domestic market consists of students from local universities, and the dominant segment is visiting friends and relatives. The students from local universities in Zimbabwe usually request 130 that they meet with the entrepreneurs in Chiredzi to evade the strenuous twelve-hour journey. This is contrary to the fact that the demand for the ventures‘ products and services is limited to those who visit the case communities. The Sengwe community is characterised by poor road networks and there are no other tourism support activities that stimulate travel. Consequently, travel is not pull induced and is characterised by negotiation and borrowing. However, it is interesting to point out that the participants in the Sengwe community collectively organise a soccer tournament annually. The tournament runs for two days and this creates a ready market for their products. This indicates their marketing abilities and capacity to draw together when they understand the outcomes and value that can be derived from them. Contrastingly, the Makuleke community draws a relatively large number of domestic tourists when compared to the Sengwe community. The majority visit the community during the festive season and the food ventures provide them with a place to meet and also taste local foods. There are few marketing efforts that are put in place by the entrepreneurs to promote their ventures to attract domestic tourists. The researcher realised that the participants rely on walk- ins and there are no relationship marketing strategies in place to entice and retain the tourists. The interaction between tourists and entrepreneurs results in service encounters and the service experiences are influenced by communication. The VaTsonga people are an ethnic minority and the Shangani language is limited to the case communities which complicates their interaction with tourists. All the participants in the Sengwe community revealed that they are conversant with Shona (the dominant language in Zimbabwe). This makes it easy to interact with potential customers during events such as the Chiredzi Agricultural Show. The participants in the Makuleke community revealed that they communicate with international tourists in English. 131 Figure 7-1: Craftpreneurs selling their wares at the MCC Source: Own photograph Figure 7-1 depicts the participants interacting and discussing their products and the pricing with international tourists without the aid of an interpreter. It is also interesting to highlight that communication is not only limited to spoken words, it also encompasses actions and behaviours (body language and signals). In figure 7-1, one of the participants is making her explanations clearer through pointing to the necklace she is referring to. The researcher realised that the participants in both case communities have excellent social skills by observing their posture and facial expressions, an indication that the participants like other micro entrepreneurs have strong oral communication skills (Perks & Struwig, 2005). The tourists not only buy the crafts or the food but also the experiences which are vastly improved by good communication skills. Evidence from the study also revealed that the local tour guides that accompany the international tourists during their stay are often engaged as translators when the international guests and the entrepreneurs fail to understand each other. This is more pronounced when the tourists deeply entrench themselves within the local economies and would require explanations about directions and to explain a certain event for example. Oral communication problems are also evident when the entrepreneurs interact with domestic tourists from other provinces. The VaTsonga people are an ethnic minority grouping whose Shangani language is only limited to the case communities and in depth oral communications with locals from other regions is problematic. This situation was evident in very few participants as most of them are conversant in other ethnic languages, a situation the researcher attributed to in marriages. 132 7.2.3.2 Product development It is easy to identify the entrepreneurial skills based on the product development because the product characteristics are shaped by internal identity and the motivations of the individual entrepreneur within a given socio-economic context. The tourist market requires products with different features and prices when compared to the demands of the local community members. The interactions with the participants reveal that the craft entrepreneurs have made innovations particularly with new products being developed to meet the demands of the tourists. The craft entrepreneurs have developed new designs for their crafts for example, a design depicting the South African flag on the tourists‘ souvenirs. These unique designs give meaning to the crafts and the value attached to the souvenirs is enhanced. An analysis of the entrepreneurial initiatives pursued by the participants reveal that they were nurtured with the primary aim of serving the community‘s needs rather than solely to meet the needs of the tourists. The traditional healers, for example, have been providing pharmacological remedies to cure remedies suffered by the community members and beadwork is part and parcel of the Shangaan culture that is a symbol of identity and dressing among the women. The ability of the participants to tailor-make their products and services to meet the expectations of the tourists is indicative of their innovation. The combining of indigenous knowledge and craftsmanship with new materials, patterns and colours to suit the market reinforces the participants‘ entrepreneurial prowess. The researcher realised that not all craft entrepreneurs and traditional healers in the case communities are tourism oriented. In addition, the ability of the participants to develop crafts, for example, and market them to tourists shows their innovation. In this context, the beadwork (necklaces and headbands) was culturally viewed as feminine and a part of women‘s dress and the participants disrupt these social norms and alter the tourists‘ perception towards beadwork to be unisex. In addition, the participants‘ product development is marked by the introduction of new products specifically earmarked for the tourist market. The handbags illustrated in Figure 7-2 are an example of the new product range meant for tourists. 133 Figure 7-2: Tourist handbags Source: own photograph In the same vein, the traditional healers, and Rhulani in particular, enables tourists to experience her traditional healing sessions and share with them her knowledge about the medicinal properties of herbs. The explanations of spiritual healing and ‗throwing of the bones‘ and interpretation not only fascinates tourists in search of genuine and allocentric lifestyles but also improves the tourists‘ knowledge and understanding of the broader community. The incremental adjustments made by the entrepreneurs to meet the demands of tourism indicate personality attributes that include risk-taking, innovation and creativity (Ogundele et al., 2012). The participants‘ ability to sustain their ventures for a period exceeding two years indicates their resilience and perseverance (Chell, 2013) and the ability to use emerging opportunities within their familial tasks contributes to the continued development of their tourism products and services. The findings also reveal the participants‘ creative abilities both in delivering the end product and also the indigenous cultural practices, processes and relations engaged by the entrepreneurs. The participants‘ creativity is highlighted by their active participation and engagement with the tourists. The tourists originate from different backgrounds in pursuit of different motives and the ability of the participants to meet tourist expectations within defined social boundaries depicts their creativity. The day visits by the tourists limit the entrepreneurs‘ creativity as the tourists will be exposed only to the staged environments such as the Makuleke amphitheatre and a few real-life experiences as guided by the itinerary developed by the intermediaries. As such, the 134 creative abilities of the participants to develop tourism processes that enhance tourist experiences are curtailed by their own lack of management and marketing skills. The food operators have realised few product developments both in terms of new product characteristics and finding new ways to develop the products. Interactions with the food operators in the Makuleke community revealed that they were informed of the type of food to prepare which mostly consisted of traditional chicken, goat meat and rice. This builds the tourists‘ perception that the food among the case communities is centred on meat while in reality an array of vegetables are consumed in real-life. The use of firewood to prepare and preserve food in the face of sustainable and cost-effective ways of doing the same indicates the lack of product development for the food operators. For instance, none of the operators have embraced solar energy for lighting and preserving food. Tourism is a new phenomenon in the case communities that requires the entrepreneurs to be exposed to other rural areas with established tourism enterprises. North and Smallbone (2006) indicate that social networking and interactions help to generate dynamic entrepreneurs capable of continuously developing the tourism products and services. Rural women‘s networks are characterised by small, dense kinship and neighbourhood-centred relationships (Smallbone, 2009) that are not able to influence the entrepreneurs‘ product development abilities. The participants‘ networks consist of family, friends and local community members who do not have knowledge and skills that can aid product and service quality because they are exposed to the same environments as the entrepreneurs (Shields, 2005). 7.2.4 Communication skills Evidence also revealed that the participants have low levels of communication skills (writing). The communication skills include both oral and written skills. ―Loko notsala hansi leswi swi xaviwaka, ndyangu wa mina uta swi vona eku ni endla mali yotala‖ – (if I write down the sales, my family will see that I am making a lot of money) Ntsako thinks that she needs to keep the business performance statistics to herself, neither does she keep historical data relating to daily sales nor generate monthly sales reports for example. As a result, she cannot estimate future business performance based on historical data nor develop reports to source funding from the banks. Hlamulo is among the six participants who record their day to day transactions. The photograph below indicates how she records: 135 Figure 7-3: Participants’ records of meat orders Source: own photograph The photograph in Figure 7-3 indicates details of the items sourced by Nhlamulo and these include; traditional chicken (huku), half-goat (hafumbuti) and goat (fulumbuti). The differences in the prices of the items reflects that the items are sourced from different individuals and differ in size. Nhlamulo explained that the records enable her to estimate the average price to purchase the goats for example. Although she acknowledges the need to include the area she sources, the goats for example, on her record sheets; she insists that she can easily recall such information. It is imperative to also note that the participants who recorded the transactions lacked the record keeping skills or a sophisticated recordkeeping process or use of software. The photograph in Figure 7-4 indicates one of the record books Nhlamulo was using and was already torn. 136 Figure 7-4: poor record keeping Source: Own photograph Figure 7-4 indicates the items sold, price, number of plates sold and the total amount. Nhlamulo revealed that she introduced the stock sheet to manage employee performance and for stock taking purposes because she no longer spends much time at the establishment. Once the stocks are done, the records will be deemed of no use and hence not properly kept and this affects planning. From this perspective, the poor record keeping skills have a negative effect on the participants‘ organisational skills. This shows that venture success or failure is not attributed to one set of entrepreneurial skills but a set of skills that complement each other (Bridge et al., 2003; Morrison, 2006). The participants‘ oral communication skills or lack thereof are explained in section 7.2.3.1, and it has been noted that most of the participants have good oral communication skills. 7.3 Tourism entrepreneurial skills and sustainability The participants‘ entrepreneurial activities are sustainable when they enable them to derive economic benefits with little or no harm to the environment and the needs of the future generations are considered. The entrepreneurs are well placed to implement sustainability principles because they are mothers themselves and have a lot of responsibility and care for their communities in which they reside. It is in this dimension that the researcher found it prudent to analyse the sustainability of the entrepreneurial skills; the elements of commercial 137 viability and community development are critical especially when one seeks to understand the long term viability of the enterprises (Dangi & Jamal, 2016). 7.3.1 Entrepreneur and resource use The participants make use of the communal resources to drive their tourism entrepreneurial activities. The researcher observed that the food operators in the Sengwe community obtained firewood from the communal lands which has fuelled deforestation. The continued cutting down of trees reduces wildlife habitat. The Sengwe community is part of the GLTP and deforestation reduces the appeal of the tourism destination. Besides, the continued cutting down of trees is against earlier conclusions that the VaTsonga are conscious of ways to preserve nature. This is also imperative as part of the reduction of waste and to develop a circular economy. From this perspective, the food operators in the Sengwe community lack innovative skills that enable them to harness other environmentally friendly ways that include making use of solar energy. Even though the entrepreneurs pursue their ventures motivated by the desire to meet household necessities, their activities can still be innovative and ensure minimum harm to the broader community (Ateljevic et al., 2008). In the case of the Makuleke community, the Ntlhaveni area was already deforested when they occupied the area, there is electricity and the food operators supplement the electricity with charcoal. It is imperative to note that innovation contributes to efficient resource use and improves the quality of the service offering (Carmichael & Ainley, 2014). The evidence also revealed that the food prepared is obtained from the local community. The purchase of goats and chickens within the case communities for example, ensures that the tourist income cascades down the case communities‘ economies. A single tourist purchase triggers multiple transactions down the value chain. Nonetheless, the increase in the demand for food products has led farmers to increase the price of farm animals such as goats and chicken. The community members will also purchase these items at exorbitant prices. The demand for products by the entrepreneurs has led to increases in prices and this has a negative bearing on the ordinary community members. 7.3.2 Fair trade Fair trade relates to giving tourists value for their money while the entrepreneurs also sell their products at the right price. The researcher observed that the entrepreneurs charge almost similar prices for their prices to both local and international tourists. For instance, the average price for a necklace in both communities is ZAR20 (US$1.60) and the differences will be a result of the size of the necklace and uniqueness of the design. The participants in the Makuleke 138 communities insist that payments be made in their local rands which enable them to evade overcharging their products when charged in foreign currency and taking advantage of the tourists‘ lack of information about current exchange rates (Leon, 2007). The interactions between the tourists and the entrepreneurs is characterised by little discounting negotiations on either party which depicts fairness. The entrepreneurs also put much effort and in developing a wide range of products from which the tourists can make a selection, which further ensures that the tourists get value for their money. On the other hand, it is also imperative to note the trade imbalances that exist between the entrepreneurs and the intermediaries (lodges, tour operators and crafts dealers). The situation is more noticeable in the Makuleke community where there are individuals who purchase the beadwork for resale in Johannesburg. The lodges organise day trips to the Makuleke community and determine the prices for the individual products in the itinerary. Rhulani regards the money she obtains from tourists as a token of appreciation and not the price for her services. Her understanding is that she has a community obligation to represent the community and showcase it to the tourists rather than a sense of increasing her own income. This connection and deeply rooted responsibility in representing and promoting their culture is also evident in their business practices. The entrepreneurs have managed to sustain the Shangaan culture when sharing their language, cultural dress and customs. The entrepreneurs are models within the society and community members imitate their way of life. In essence, the traditional dances, spiritual healing experiences and crafts provide a way to resist cultural assimilation (Ateljevic et al., 2008). Evidence from the study indicates that the women have maintained their traditional attire as a form of identity and the traditional foods as a way of offering authentic tourist experiences. The food operators in the Sengwe community have managed to offer food that depicts their daily way of life. They have maintained the traditional way of preserving food hence maintaining the taste and quality of the food they serve. It must be acknowledged, however, that culture is dynamic and hence subject to evolution, the street side food preparation is a relatively new phenomenon. The tourism ventures ensure that the women, especially the divorced and widowed, are economically independent resulting in the reconsideration of gender role stereotypes and the female entrepreneurs also earn respect (Ateljevic et al., 2008; Scheyvens, 2000). 7.3.3 Meeting the needs of the future generation The income derived from tourism has precipitated the female entrepreneurs to preserve their cultural heritage thereby enhancing the tourist cultural experience. The female entrepreneurs acknowledge that the survival of their ventures centres on the Shangani culture hence their entrepreneurial behaviour that is, the nature of ventures developed, daily routines and 139 interactions with the tourists are influenced by the communities‘ traditions and customs. Notably, the participants maintained their traditional dress when in contact with the tourists and the Makuleke GG dance group‘s drama, poetry and songs reminiscent of the forced removals from Pafuri and the daily life experiences. The idea being to depict authentic representation of the community‘s culture to the tourists whilst protecting traditional lifestyles and educating the youth (Ngo et al., 2018). The female ownership and control of the CBCTV result in benefits (employment, income and self-esteem) being enjoyed within the community (Harrison & Schipani, 2007). More so, it puts the female entrepreneurs in a position that enables them to transfer their entrepreneurial knowledge and skills to their families and relatives. This is possible as the researcher observed that the participants employed mostly their own family members, relatives and neighbours. The enjoyment of the benefits facilitate poverty eradication at household level and boost community development when aggregated (Salazar, 2012). Such a scenario concurs with Tolkach and King (2015) the needs of the future generation will be met when the ventures are able to improve community livelihoods and not centred at maximising individual gain. The improvement of household livelihoods and subsequent community development can only be achieved when the ventures are commercially viable and provide an economic stimulus for the youth to be involved. The focus in this case is on the sustainability of the outcomes emanating from the entrepreneurship activities (Sakata & Prideaux, 2013). Commercial viability of the ventures ensures that the next generation will be incentivised to sustain their traditions and customs both as a tourist drawcard and form of identity. The lack of participation of women below 30 years old as entrepreneurs in the case communities is regrettable as they are not able to actively participate and influence the entrepreneurial process. 7.4 Entrepreneurial skills acquisition and development processes The participants pursued different kinds of tourism ventures and the researcher categorised them as food operations, craft tourism, spiritual tourism and shuttle services. There are marked differences even within a particular category, food operations for example; the ventures differ in both the size and nature of the food served. These differences are a result of the differences in entrepreneurial skills set among the participants. The participants noted different factors that have shaped their entrepreneurial skills, and these include education, tacit processes (work experience, intergenerational acculturation and social networks) and genetics. 7.4.1 Education Entrepreneurship is a science and the entrepreneurial skills can be taught and improved through formal education and training (Chell, 2013; Johnson et al., 2015). The demographic 140 characteristics indicate that only Lirhando has acquired vocational training processes. The other participants indicated that they received training mostly from NGOs. ―…kusunghuleni ahi dyondyisiwa ku tsaka mali leyi hinga ntirhisa siku na siku‖ (…..and in the preliminary stages of the training we were taught how to write our daily expenditure). In addition to this Nhlamulo also said, ―Ni dyondyile kutsala ti mali na ku pima emi xavo ya swilo swa kona hi lembe ra magidhi mambirhi na mbirhi‖ (I learnt record keeping and costing during the workshops that were organised sometime in 2002). This clearly illustrates that some of the entrepreneurship skills (in this case record keeping skills) can be enhanced through education. The training and workshops played a crucial role in shaping the participants‘ record keeping skills and this is in sync with Lashgarara et al.'s (2011) conclusion that workshops, short courses and support groups enhance entrepreneurial education in rural communities where formal education is lacking. ―Hi kuva xiphemu xa tlawa lowu swi ni endlile kurhi ni van a ku ti tshemba eku na vetisa vutshila na vuswikoti loko vaeni va vuya mugangeni wa hina‖ -(My attendance to one of the workshops made me confident to display my crafts when the tourists visit our village) –echoed Akisani. The training and association with peers made Akisani realise her creativity and the economic opportunity presented by the tourists; today she employs two ladies who attend to her displays. As such, the workshops also boosted Akisani‘s psychological traits (self-confidence and self- esteem) (Jones & English, 2004), creativity and decision making (Johnson et al., 2015). 7.4.2 Creativity and innovation Ntateko, Wizanani and Khesani regarded their creativity in crafts as inborn. ―Ntirho wa mina wa mavoko usasekile …….ngopfu na kambe na swi kota ku endla xi n‘wani na xi n‘wani xitshwa lexi munhu alavaku kurhi ni endla‖ (my crafts are well designed……this runs in my blood and I can easily come up with a new design) further explained Khesani. Wizanani does not have any formal education and was reluctant to attend training workshops citing that she is unable to write. ―Kahle kahle ni mina ni endlaku hinkwawo ntirho wa mavoko hinkwawo lowu miwu vonaku, n‘wana wa mina wa xinsati hi yena axa visaku na ku vona eku hi swi endla mali muni‖ (Basically I am the one responsible for making all these crafts that you see and my daughter is the one who sets the prices and sell), 141 said Wizanani. The lack of formal education did not constrain her from pursuing crafts which shows that the inner drive to run a venture is an inborn trait and the leadership ability to give both direction and ‗employ‘ her daughter to do the selling is an entrepreneurship skill. As such, the success of the ventures is firmly anchored on the participants‘ personality attributes. This is in line with Yeh and Fotiadis' (2014) observation that the success of micro-tourism enterprises is dependent on the owner‘s personal skills. The informal interactions with the participants revealed that their personal traits are also being shaped by their culture. Ntiyiso for example explained that she would have loved to be a tour guide and be able to explain the Makuleke history and heritage to the tourists but, ―… ni tsandekile ku endla course ya tour guiding hi kuva nuna wa mina uniyarisile‖ (failed to attend a tour guiding course because my husband did not like it and nobody would take care of my children during the whole training duration) ―….na loko nuna wa mina apfumele, akurhi hava anga hi ta sala na van ava mina loko rinhi kudyondzeni. Mugangeni wa hina swa yila eku n‘wansati aheleketa va vanuna ntsena‖ (…even if my husband would have consented, the community would not approve me to accompany males during the tours) Ntiyiso‘s explanations indicate several cultural factors that negatively impact rural women‘s entrepreneurial skills. In the above scenario, as a married woman, is expected to obey her husband and she does so by not attending the tour guiding course. She also puts her family needs at the forefront which further traps her risk-taking and adventure skills and any business that demands time away from home will remain a dream which led her to run a crafts venture. Such social expectations clearly impact on the career direction of women. 7.4.3 Tacit processes The participants also revealed that their entrepreneurial skills were shaped by their own experiences, observations and imitation (Hall & Andriani, 2003). The participants, notably in the crafts and food operations, opined that their technical skills were a result of their own day to day experiences. Young girls and women are tasked with helping their mothers with the household chores like fetching firewood, cleaning the houses and cooking. These are the same tasks that are performed at the food business, for example, and the food being prepared is that prepared in their homes. ―ku sweka intirho wa siku na siku lowu ni wu endlaka eku sukela na harhi ntsongo. Laha ni lunghisela xikhafu hi ndlela leyi ni lunghisaku xikhafu loko nirhi kaya‖ - (Cooking is a day to day activity that I undertake since my teen hood, here I prepare food the same way I do at home) –said Xeluzani. 142 This indicates that her own previous experiences and the cultivation of cultural practices were instrumental in developing her technical skills. ―Ani famba na kokwani va xinsati ku ya lava mi mirhi ya xintu yoku horhisa/ku tshungula mavabyi mohambana. Nitile nita dyondyisiwa na kambe hi munghana wa mina eku lunghisa na ku hlanganisa mi mirhi yo hambana‖ -(I used to accompany my grandmother to collect herbs that heal different ailments and was later trained by a family friend on how to administer the different herbs) –said Hitahlula. In this instance, knowledge relating to traditional healing is regarded as a ‗family asset‘ that is passed on from one generation to the other. The older women, like Hitahlula‘s aunty, imparted the technical aspects of traditional healing that is; detecting ailments, identifying sources of herbs and how to use the herbs. Rhulani also added that the activities of food preparation and beadwork are important in the life of Shangani women such that they are taught from a tender age. By doing so, the knowledge will be passed from one generation to the other and the participants combine them with other skills to satisfy the tourists‘ needs. All the participants indicated that their social networks contributed to the development of their entrepreneurial skills. The social networks indicated are not only limited to their families but also include other entrepreneurs, community members and the traditional authority. Khesani pointed out that she shares ideas on how to redesign the crafts with her peers. She also cited the encouragement and support she obtains from the traditional authority as the major factor that boosted her confidence and propels her inner drive to succeed. 7.5 Chapter summary Rural women entrepreneurs play a pivotal role in the sustained development of rural economies. An understanding of rural women‘s entrepreneurial skills helps to determine entry points that further improve their operations and capacitate them to sustain their ventures, improve product quality, meet the dynamic tourists‘ needs and resultant tourist experiences (Sadera et al., 2019). The gathered data reveal that the participants are good in various skills dimensions. These skills dimensions were identified based on the purposefulness (actual/intended) of the entrepreneurial related decisions taken by the participants. This was motivated by the lack of written accounts and clearly defined goals of what the participants sought to achieve. The identified skills are not representative of key entrepreneurial skills but what rural women expressly/impliedly possess. 143 Table 7-1: Summary of the participants’ entrepreneurship skills Personal Technical Management Self-confidence*** Computer skills Time-management**** Risk-taking** Communication*** Organisational * Innovation& creativity** Record keeping* Business planning** Resilience ***** Networking*** Tourism legislation Respect of ethics***** R & D People management*** Change-oriented* Product development*** Sustainability** Market development* Recognising opportunities*** Key: Each star represents four participants: The number of stars attached to each entrepreneurial skill indicates the number of participants attributed to have that particular skill. The dominant entrepreneurial skills that the participants possess are technical, developed to meet the social needs of the broader community and extended to tourism because of the need to earn income. The participants‘ social networks are limited to the case communities and revolve around the community members, relatives and the traditional authority. The entrepreneurs also indicated that they are equipped with strong personality traits; resilience and self confidence were the most notable ones amongst all the participants. Evidence from the research indicates that the participants‘ technical skills and personality traits have been shaped by the local knowledge systems. The participants lack formal education and their management skills have largely been acquired through workshops conducted by NGOs. However, more needs to be done to further develop the management skills that include computer skills, marketing research and analysis, record keeping and market development. Table 7-1 summarises the entrepreneurship skills identified in the study and an assessment of the strength of the skills amongst the participants was ignored. Identification of the entrepreneurship skills facilitates the planning of the growth and development (Castro & Ferreira, 2019) and appropriate use of rural women‘s skills sets (Adesiji et al., 2018). 144 The entrepreneurial skills set possessed by each entrepreneur influences the capacity to use existing opportunities, create new opportunities, evolve the tourism products and services, network with other tourism stakeholders and manage operations sustainably. As such, there exists a link between the entrepreneurship skills and the venture performance (Mollel & Kotoroi, 2014). The next chapter details how the venture outcomes (both financial and non-financial) influence the entrepreneurs‘ household livelihoods. The focus is on how the CBCTV affects household livelihoods. 145 CHAPTER 8: CBTE AS A LIVELIHOOD STRATEGY 8.1 An overview The female entrepreneurs‘ experiences and everyday life activities as they relate to their surrounding environments are viewed as sustainable when they are able to maintain or improve their lifestyles in the face of unexpected setbacks (Chen et al., 2018). One of the objectives of this study was to ascertain the contributions made by CBCTV towards household livelihoods. The assessment of the successes that are solely attributed to the CBCTV has been challenging due to the lack of records about venture performance and the participants‘ pursuance of diverse livelihood strategies. To better explain such impacts, the researcher made use of sub themes that were developed, guided by the sustainable livelihood framework (see section 2.4.1.1). The emerging sub-themes include the entrepreneurs‘ acquisition of household assets, ability to support household activities and the effect on the communities‘ overall way of life. The research findings revealed that rural women‘s entrepreneurial initiatives impact rural livelihoods at household and community level. 8.2 CBCTV and household assets The household assets refer to both the physical capital and financial capital that are accumulated as a result of the entrepreneurial initiatives. All the participants were quick to point to the financial benefits that are earned from their entrepreneurial activities. ―Vuyelo ya mina yasiku imadzana mambirhi wa tirands. Adzi swi tsali hanzi hikokwalaho swa karhata ekuta ehleketa vuyelo yamasiku hikwawo‖-Ntsako. (My daily average earnings are approximately four hundred rands. I do not record my transactions down and it is difficult to memorise all the income earned daily). Ntsako‘s narratives indicate that her food operations enable her to earn income on a daily basis. The gross incomes are substantial amounts given the fact that most families in developing countries survive on less than US$1 per day (Truong et al., 2020) and unpredictable rainfall patterns negatively impact incomes obtained from agriculture (Kinsey, 2002). Louw (2010) indicated that income derived from nature-based CBT has been used to fund infrastructural development initiatives and no dividends were paid to Makuleke community members. The CAMPFIRE proceeds were also used to purchase a grinding mill, road maintenance and infrastructure development in the Sengwe community (CRDC reports; 2010). Deductively, the community members have to find alternative sources of income to support their household expenditures. In this case, the CBCTV provide rural women with a means to earn income and 146 cater for the family needs. The entrepreneurs are in direct contact with the tourists thereby enabling them not only to earn direct sales but also to enjoy gratuities (Leon, 2007). As Ntsako pointed out, the participants, especially those in the craft category, do not record their earnings and the researcher made use of the participants‘ own accounts. The participants in the food operations category record their daily sales and expenses and these were also used to come up with monthly earnings for each participant and these were then aggregated. The table below summarises the aggregate income earned by the participants within a given time. Table 8-1: Aggregate entrepreneur earnings between December 2018 - March 2019 Venture categories Cumulative earnings Dec 2018- Mar 2019 (ZAR) Dec Jan Feb Mar No. of entrepreneurs Sengwe Maku‘ Sengwe Maku‘ Sengwe Maku‘ Sengwe Maku‘ Sengwe Maku‘ Food 11 100 9 100 7 100 9 300 7 300 8 200 10 000 6 400 6 3 Crafts 4 400 14 100 1 200 11 700 1 800 15 600 3 200 13 000 3 6 Spiritual 2 000 8 000 - 6 800 3 200 7 700 4 000 10 200 1 2 Source: Own compilation Exchange rate Us$1=ZAR12.7 The research findings reveal that the average monthly income earned by rural women entrepreneurs in the case communities is ZAR2300 each. The entrepreneurs involved in crafts in the Makuleke community earn the highest income whilst the food operators earn daily incomes. Table 8-1 also reveals that the Makuleke community earns more income than the Sengwe community in all the venture categories. A better understanding of the contributions of the venture earnings is better illustrated when one considers the per capita earnings. That is, Table 8-1 indicates that the aggregate earnings from the food operators is higher than from spiritual tourism in the Sengwe community and there was a greater number of entrepreneurs who contributed. Table 8-2 gives the per capita earnings based on the aggregate earnings for each category highlighted in Table 8-1 above. 147 Table 8-2: Per capita income for entrepreneurs from Dec 2018- March 2019 Venture categories Cumulative per capita income Dec 2018- Mar 2019 (ZAR) Dec Jan Feb Mar Sengwe Maku‘ Sengwe Maku‘ Sengwe Maku‘ Sengwe Maku‘ Food 1 850 3 033 1 183 3 100 1 217 2 733 1 667 2 133 Crafts 1 467 2 350 400 1 950 600 2 600 1 067 2 167 Spiritual 2 000 4 000 - 3 200 3 200 3 850 4 000 5 100 Source: own compilations Exchange rate Us$1=ZAR12.7 Table 8-2 gives a clear picture of each entrepreneur‘s earnings in each venture category. The entrepreneurs involved in spiritual tourism earn the highest incomes, the per capita income for March was ZAR5000, an amount much higher than the aggregate earnings for the entrepreneurs involved in crafts in the Sengwe community over the same period. These figures indicate that entrepreneurs in the Makuleke community earn more than those in the Sengwe community across all the venture categories. Nonetheless, it is prudent to note that the income earnings are different even within a venture category that is, the income distribution is not even. The lack of records hinders one to come up with precise income earnings amongst the entrepreneurs. The impact of the entrepreneurial initiatives on livelihoods thus was also assessed using non-monetary variables. The involvement of the locals in tourism initiatives through managing tourism initiatives improves circulation of income within the local economies, increases local control over tourism developments and gives the locals a voice on the nature of the tourism activities that they intend to pursue (Leon, 2007). The research results provide evidence that rural women entrepreneurs spend the income earned on purchasing different households assets. All the participants indicated that they used the income obtained from their entrepreneurial initiatives to purchase kitchen goods and utensils. Lirhando even showed the researcher an electric stove she purchased from the savings made from her food operations business. Hleketani revealed that she runs a goat project and Amukelani runs a poultry project that were financed using proceeds from their enterprises. These examples indicate that entrepreneurial initiatives positively impact household livelihoods. The purchase of the kitchen utensils helps them to prepare food more conveniently for their household. The same utensils are also used in the venture when there is 148 unexpected demand thereby improving business capacity. From this perspective, the income from tourism helps the entrepreneurs to improve their living standards. It is important to note that, in most cases, the tourism earnings are insignificant to such an extent that they will be used to purchase food items. In this case, Akisani indicated that the tourism earnings are insignificant, and she spends the income to supplement household food. The researcher‘s personal interpretations are that the ability to purchase household assets depends on other sources of income, family size and children‘s life cycle. The demographic information gathered indicates that a household consists, on average, of about six members and this means the food requirements are high. The lack of other sources of income means that the earnings from the venture will cater for all the household‘s needs leaving little to invest in household assets. Hleketani for example, uses her earnings to pay school fees for two of her grandchildren attending a local primary school and must pay university fees for her own son. Given such a background, there will be no savings to purchase household assets. Apart from the family size, Tinyeleti indicated that her husband has scaled down contributions towards household income resulting in much of her income being channelled towards family needs. Her experiences illustrate that rural women‘s potential is limited by the reluctance of the men to support their economic independence. Such restrictive gender ideologies result in entrepreneurs funding household expenses (Leon, 2007). Other married women that include Ntsako and Ntateko indicated that their husbands were working in the cities and are responsible for the purchase of family assets that include livestock. They revealed that they keep the tourism earnings to themselves and use them to buy luxuries. Tourism thus complements existing livelihood strategies and provides additional household income (Ashley, 2000). The household assets also include the intangible elements that include the skills acquired during the entrepreneurial process and the social capital. The participants indicated that non- governmental organisations imparted them with entrepreneurial skills that include the ability to manage finances and coming up with innovative products. There has been a decline in or lack of training workshops that specifically target rural women entrepreneurs in the case communities. The entrepreneurs are thus playing a pivotal role in knowledge and skills transfer to the next generation. The entrepreneurs employ relatives, children and friends which makes the entrepreneurial knowledge and skills part and parcel of the household assets as absence of such skills reduce the value of the household. The transfer of knowledge and skills among the family members helps them to start their own initiatives and to use them in non-tourism activities (Ashley, 2000). 149 In addition, the entrepreneurial activities result in the strengthening of existing social relations and the creation of new ones. For example, Khesani has been able to bear her mother‘s medical expenses using the income obtained from the enterprise and she noted that this greatly improved her relations with her maternal relatives. All the same, the researcher observed that family support and employment opportunities presented by the participants‘ ventures results in family cohesion, and has improved their social connections and social bonds. The interactions made during their day to day enterprise activities have also benefited family members as in the case of Nhlamulo who was able to secure her son a university scholarship while attending the agricultural show. 8.3 CBCTV and household activities Ashley (2000) acknowledges that tourism initiatives are a new economic activity that complements existing livelihood strategies in rural communities. The evidence gathered points out that the participants in the Sengwe community regard farming as their main livelihood activity. The gradual decline in tourism earnings among the food operators in the Sengwe community between December 2018 and March 2019 indicated in Table 8-1 might be attributed to the entrepreneurs putting greater focus on farm activities. The incomes derived from the entrepreneurial initiatives have been used to support these agricultural activities through the purchase of seed, fertiliser and hiring casual labour for example. The household successes and wealth are measured on agricultural output such as the number of livestock and not on the viability of the enterprise that promotes the entrepreneurs to allocate much time and resources towards agricultural activities. Tshembani used the enterprise earnings to purchase a cow sometime in 2012, the idea being to support her agricultural activities and as a symbol of wealth. In this respect, cattle are a symbol of wealth among the VaTsonga, no wonder almost every household has a cattle pen even in the Makuleke community where grazing land is limited. However, Ashley (2000) postulates the investment potential is accrued by better-off households who are more likely to have surplus income for investment. 8.4 CBCTV and community life The progress made by societies, their well-being and identification of ways to improve and sustain their quality of life cannot only be measured using gross domestic product (GDP) alone. There is a need to find alternative ways to determine the quality of life that offsets lack of statistical data in rural communities. The experiences of rural women tourism entrepreneurs can be best presented through an analysis and interpretation of their way of life and interactions with the broader community. However, it must be noted that such an analysis was done whilst 150 overlooking the fact that rural communities‘ livelihoods are sustained using multiple strategies. The Sengwe and Makuleke communities rely on agriculture, remittances from relatives working outside the community and tourism entrepreneurial initiatives act as supplements (Muzeza, 2013; Maluluke, 2018). The analysis of the quality of life in the Sengwe and Makuleke communities was done at both the community and household level. A comparative analysis of the quality of life between tourism and non-tourism entrepreneurs will help to dissect the contributions of tourism entrepreneurship to household livelihoods. This, however, is beyond the scope of this research and calls the need for future research. Food security and resource (natural and cultural) degradation remain key concerns for rural communities (Carney, 1999). The participants noted that their entrepreneurial initiatives have contributed immensely towards curbing poverty and reducing resource degradation in several ways that include supporting local industry, earning income, the multiplier effect, sustenance of cultural activities and improvement in community interactions and networking. The establishment of food operations in the Sengwe and Makuleke communities has led to the emergence of supporting activities. Akisani states that local retail shops now stock an array of beads, and the tying wire used to make bracelets and necklaces. This resonates well with Lipianin-Zontek and Zontek's (2017) assertion that tourism results in the growth of local support industries. Whilst the retail shops emerge to satisfy the needs of the catering facilities, they will also meet the needs of the locals. That is, local people will not be restricted from purchasing household items that will be available in the retail shops. It is against this background that Mugizi et al. (2018) conclude that tourism ventures elicit development in the face of limited economic development opportunities in rural areas. Nhlamulo said that she sources sorghum from the local farmers and later pounds the sorghum at the local grinding mill. She also purchases chickens and vegetables from community members and only the goats are bought from other, more distant, villages. She also purchases groceries such as cooking oil, cleaning detergents and salt from the local retail shops because she enjoys credit facilities and flexible payment options. It is interesting to note that the income earned from the catering establishment will diffuse within the local community as the items are locally sourced. A simple purchase of products at Nhlamulo‘s establishment, for example, will result in income penetrating all corners of the community‘s economic sphere. Acharya and Halpenny (2013) identified that there are fewer income leakages amongst homestay operators and the cultural tourism ventures enable the community to retain tourism earnings (Lyons et al., 2012). The purchase of local produce using profits and wages earned from the ventures further stimulates a cascading effect within the case communities (Al-kadasi, 2019). Nonetheless, the 151 researcher noted that leakages might also occur in the case of the Makuleke community where the grocery shops are foreign owned. In this case, income earned will not circulate within the community as the foreign business owners will take the funds out of the community and remit to their respective communities. The Shangaan culture is the bedrock on which the participants‘ entrepreneurial initiatives are built. The VaTsonga people are identifiable through their language, dress code, traditions and customs (initiation ceremonies, harvesting ceremonies and ilala palm wine extraction) (section 5.4.1). The Shangani customs and beliefs have been learned through song, drama and poetry performed by the Makuleke dance group. The traditional group was formed with the intention of informing visitors and the younger generation about the community‘s way of life in the Old Makuleke village prior to the forced removals, the customs and traditions of the VaTsonga people. This is summarised by Miyetani when she said, ―Ixiave xa hina kuvulavula hiswa vutomi bya hina na kudyondzisa lava vatsongwani ndhavuko wahina matsonga machangana‖ (It is our responsibility to speak of ourselves and to teach our young generation the Shangaan tradition). From this view, the cultural tourism ventures have enabled the case communities to sustain their cultural habits and lifestyles (Yeh & Fotiadis, 2014). The involvement of rural women enable them to attach value to the community‘s local knowledge and customs and the potential to earn income help them reinvent traditional lifestyles (Acharya & Halpenny, 2013). The Makuleke traditional dance group depicts collective entrepreneurship that has been sustained over the years partly due to the existing relationships among the participants. The duties within the group are informed by the relationships that already exist. For example, the older women occupy the leadership positions within the dance group and formulate its overall vision and decide the sharing of benefits. The drama, songs and poetry performed by the group are motivated by the historical past and way of life in the old Makuleke village, a narration of how the forced removals were conducted and the way the community‘s political system is played. The collectivism among the participants strengthens already existing relationships and fosters a sense of unity that cascades to resource sharing and upholding a sense of belonging (Yeh & Fotiadis, 2014). This ultimately increases happiness among the participants and their families. The researcher observed that the group charges a single fee for their performances. Ntiyiso said, 152 ―Ntsengo lowu hikumaka eka migingiriko leyi awu eneli hixava swakunwa swa hina tsena‖. (The incomes we get from these performances are nominal; we just buy drinks and share them amongst ourselves). This assertion clearly spells out that the performances are not for financial gain. They are rather aimed at imparting the visitors and the younger generation with information relating to the history of the Makuleke people, their traditions, customs and beliefs. It is interesting to note that the locals are allowed to view the performances without charge, thus, providing entertainment and contributing to the community‘s happiness and overall well- being. The desire to support entrepreneurial tendencies among the Makuleke people in general and women in particular led the traditional leadership to invest heavily in the establishment of the Makuleke Cultural Centre (MCC). The centre has an exhibition area where these women entrepreneurs display their wares and interact with the tourists as shown below: Figure 8-1: Design of the Makuleke Cultural Centre Source: (own photograph) Lyons et al. (2012) explain that both the community and the entrepreneurs influence each other‘s potential. The Makuleke community, for example, has invested in the construction of the amphitheatre thereby providing a platform for the female entrepreneurs to interact with the tourists and exhibit their products. All the same, it might be argued that the ability of the female entrepreneurs to sustain and promote the Makuleke community‘s customs and way of life motivated the traditional leadership to invest in the construction of the amphitheatre. At the end 153 of the day, the female entrepreneurs‘ continued use of the amphitheatre for traditional dances and displaying crafts attach cultural value and meaning in the mindset of the tourists. Figure 8-2: Beadwork display at the MCC Source: own photograph In part, the potential and actual entrepreneurial tendencies have resulted in the improvement of community infrastructure. The MCC houses offices for the MCPA and community meetings and gatherings are also conducted at the centre. The provision of such infrastructure aids the development of CBCTV (Kontogeorgopoulos et al., 2014). The participants also sustain the community‘s culture in a different dimension that encompasses language, dress code and eating habits. The dress code is an everyday life event and the women take pride in wearing dress that is identifiable with the VaTsonga women. When a tourist is buying food, not only are they buying the meal but they are also buying the service, ambience and other related atmospherics (Kotler & Keller, 2006). The visitors to the catering facilities not only enjoy the food, but this is the starting point of learning and appreciating the VaTsonga‘s way of life that includes the dress code and the way the food is served (for example, the women kneel down when serving men). There are other traditions that have been resuscitated and sustained following rural women‘s tourism entrepreneurial initiatives. The traditional healing and the catering establishments have rejuvenated the demand for salt obtained from alluvial soils because of its use for healing purposes and unique taste respectively. The women are yet to tap into the festivals held 154 annually that include harvesting ceremonies (mopani worms and agricultural produce). These festivals can draw tourists if properly packaged and marketed. The food served at Xeluzani‘s catering facility is influenced by the resources found in the Sengwe community. For instance, her menu items consist of snacks (pumpkin seeds and roasted nuts) and the main dishes (sorghum meal, pumpkin leaves, traditional chicken and goat meat). The demand for sorghum and traditional chickens by the catering establishments results in the farmers increasing output. At the same time, they will be sustaining the community‘s traditional way of life, subsistence agriculture. At this point, it is interesting to note that culture is dynamic and evolves over time. Ntsako‘s catering facility in the Makuleke community has taken the evolution of culture to its advantage. The catering facility serves offal and sausages that are in high demand by the young tourists. She has adopted a braai by the roadside concept particularly during weekends and food mostly consumed includes sausages, boiled eggs, chicken feet and gizzards and the sound system she plays revitalizes the atmosphere. Rather than following a conservative tables and chairs approach and serving expensive traditional foods, she offers a conducive environment for relaxation and celebratory mood of the youths. Figure 8-3: Food preparation in the Makuleke community Source: own photograph As shown in Figure 8-3, the food prepared includes sausages and open-fire roasted chicken. This indicates an attempt to tailor their products and services to meet the needs of the tourists. The quality of life dimension at the community level can also be revealed through an analysis of the health well-being of the local populace. 155 ―Handle ka vutshunguri bya mavabyi o hambanahambana, ndza pfuna hivulayi naswitshuxo emigangeni. Vanhu avala ripfuno eka tikiliniki kambe sweswi ndza pfuna lava va ngana mavabyi amihleketo na mavabyi yamoya wachaka‖ -(Rhulani). (Apart from healing people of their various ailments, I also offer counselling and facilitate dispute resolutions among the community members. Most people nowadays seek medical help from clinics and so nowadays I have put much focus on helping people deal with stress and spiritual nourishment). Rhulani‘s narrative clearly illustrates the roles played by traditional healers in enhancing the community‘s quality of life. The role they play is amplified by the lack of health establishments at local level in the Sengwe community. In this regard, the healers provide remedy for snake bites, stomach pains and mild poisoning for example. The mental and spiritual nourishment improves an individual‘s state of mind and happiness. Although there is a community health centre in the Makuleke community, the traditional healers remain relevant and are regarded highly. Rhulani attributes this high regard to the free counselling and support she gives to the young people in her community. These sessions ultimately aid the social and spiritual well-being of the community and the quality of life at large. At this point, it is imperative to note that meaningful conclusions relating to the quality of life in the case communities will be aided by an analysis of the same at household level. This will reveal the unequal access of women to community resources and the uneven power imbalances that exist even among rural women. In this case, such an assessment centres on the participants‘ perspectives and the aspects considered include; levels of income, housing, access to education for the dependents and poverty alleviation. The analysis is done with the understanding that women‘s initiatives are regarded as community work (Jyoti, 2011) and the tourism entrepreneurial initiatives are not exceptional. Overly, the participants regard their initiatives as an extension of their household chores. Rural women undertake their entrepreneurial initiatives in their backyards except for those involved in catering in the Sengwe community. This enabled the researcher to have a snapshot view of the quality of life of the participants. ―Rendzo ramina rekuya Malamulele kuya xava vuhlalu rivangele leswaku ndzikota kuxava intsengo yutsongo hikokwalaho ka kuva ndzi hivafikele tindlwini tavona. Ntsengo wavona wukahle swinene loko hipimanyisa lewe ka hina‖-Tinyeleti. (My journey to Malamulele to buy beads presents an opportunity for me to replenish household supplies at a lower cost. The prices in Malamulele are relatively lower when compared to the retail shops in our community). ―Ntsenho lowu kumekako wutidhisiwa kuxava na ku lungiselela leswi lavekaka mundzuko, hixitalo ndzixava tihuku totala hikuva ndzi tikuma eka muganga wun‘wani. ……xankoka hilexaku sweswi ndikuma nrsengo wamina minkarhi hikwayo. Timbuti leti mivonaka tixaviwa himali ya kusweka swakudya‖- Ntsako. (The income earned will be 156 used to buy stock in preparation of the next day and I buy some items like chickens in bulk because they are difficult to source. …….. The good thing is I now have a continuous source of income. The goats you see around here were purchased using the earnings from catering). From this perspective, the participants (Tinyeleti and Ntsako) are creating wealth that improves the standard of living at household level and their aggregate output positively impacts rural economies (Al-kadasi, 2019). In addition, the demand for local supplies like agricultural produce further stimulates rural economies. The participants defined the quality of life at household level based on their ability to meet family needs whilst, in the majority of cases, forgoing personal needs. Tinyeleti‘s view of the quality of life can only be assessed based on family comfort. Tinyeleti and Ntsako‘s sentiments illustrate that their ventures serve as a means of earning income. This comes in the face of declining agricultural output caused by perennial droughts (Muzeza, 2013). When one takes into account the fact that Ntsako earns a gross income of ZAR400 daily, this is a large amount compared to the fact that the other sources of income such as agricultural activity are seasonal and do not bring revenue on a daily basis. The income is enormous when one further considers the statistic that individuals in rural communities in developing countries survive on less than US$2 (Truong et al., 2020). In the case of Tsundzukani, the income earned from crafts is in addition to remittances she receives from her children who work in Johannesburg and social grants. ―Ngamu ya mina hiyona yivonaka hi matirhiseliwe yantsengo yalaha mutini kambe keyi yamina ya vuhlalu anga khomi hikuva yamina niri nexe nivona swakuendla hiyona‖-Tshembani. (My husband decides the distribution and use of the household income and this does not include the income I realise from the beadwork. He is not interested in my earnings and I solely decide on how I spend the money). The case communities are patriarchal in nature and the household heads (men, in the majority of cases) determine income use as narrated by Tshembani. Contrastingly, Nambiar et al. (2019) view family, friends and the community members in general as sources of inspiration, encouragement and support. Having most of the married women in this study is a testimony of the positive contributions of spouses towards the development of women-run CBCTV. The successes recorded in rural tourism entrepreneurial initiatives such as Tshembani‘s handicrafts in turn help to boost the socio-economic status of rural women. The income earned by the participants helps to create a sense of financial freedom among the women. All this points to the fact that the ownership and management of the cultural tourism ventures provide rural women with a platform to make their own decisions, earn income and improve their household assets (Scheyvens, 2000). The same conclusions were made regarding the participation of Maasai 157 women‘s participation in tourism through crafts and the resultant psychological empowerment and improved social standing in the society (Meyer & Meyer, 2015). Poverty is one of the social ills that rural communities in developing countries are faced with (Ahuja, 2012) and the low-income levels of rural women inhibit them from getting adequate household food let alone medical and life insurance policies. The food shortages have been worsened by the prohibition of rural communities to sustainably consume natural resources in the communal areas. For example, hunting and gathering of wild fruits in the Makuleke Contractual Park is prohibited and there has been rampant deforestation in the Sengwe communal lands particularly in Ward 14 which has led to a decline in mopani worm harvests. Faced with this scenario, tourism entrepreneurship offers rural women a means to alleviate poverty. ―Kuhundza emisaveni kanuna wa mina hilembe ra 2007, kuvangele xiyimo xobiha eka vutomi bya mina. Ndzi hlongoriwe esin‘wini na kutekeriwa lifumo hikwalo ra nuna wamina swiphakiwa kalixaka. Kuxuvrla ka ku kurisa vana vamina kuni vangele leswaku ndziya tirha edhoropeni tani hi makhixi. Leswi swi ndzi tekele tsewu wa tinhweti hikuva a ndzi ehleketa leswakundzo hambana na vana va mina. Ndzivuyele ekaya ndzisangula mukhuva waku sweka swakudya ka ndzi xavisa ka ndzi kuma ripfuno kusuka kavatswari va mina. Vuyelo wabindzu leri uvangele leswaku ndzi kota kuhlayisa na kuhakelela vana vamina xikolo‖- Xeluzani. (The sudden death of my husband in 2007 had a negative bearing on my life. I was forced off the family land and the wealth we had amassed was distributed among the relatives. The desire to fend for my children led me to work as a housemaid in the city. This lasted for only six months as I felt that I was neglecting my children. I came back to the village and established the catering facility with the help of my parents. The income from this initiative has enabled me to look after my family (providing food, buying clothes and paying school fees for the children). Xeluzani‘s narrative elaborates that the tourism entrepreneurial initiatives provided her with an alternative source of income and helped to alleviate household poverty. It can be further noted that the catering enterprise acted as a tool to emancipate and also improve her social standing in the society. Her ability to look after her old parents and sending her children to school highlights that rural tourism entrepreneurship, and catering in particular, has been rewarding. The results reinforce Sadera et al.'s (2019) conclusions that entrepreneurship is a vehicle that alleviates poverty and inequalities within a given community. The cultural-based tourism ventures enable the entrepreneurs to directly earn income from tourism activities and purchase household necessities. The mere participation in the entrepreneurship activities also uplifts rural women‘s self esteem and sense of worth (Ahuja, 2012). 158 8.5 Chapter summary It is important to consider how CBCTV fits in with mainstream tourism and complements other household livelihood strategies. The data gathered in this study indicates that female entrepreneurs positively impact household income and facilitate the growth and development of local economies. The absence of statistical information and records hinder one‘s ability to come up with precise monetary contributions of the CBCTV towards household income. Narratives and explanations by the female entrepreneurs reveal that rural women‘s potential in the case communities is overlooked. An analysis of the female entrepreneurs‘ output was given within a socio-economic context hence able to bring to the fore even the non-monetary benefits. The researcher captured the experiences of the participants in the development and day to day running of the ventures. These experiences were interpreted in the context of interactions of the female entrepreneurs with the tourists and the broader community and how the female entrepreneurs balance their entrepreneurial work, reproductive tasks and other household economic activities. All this was done whilst also acknowledging the changes that are a result of female entrepreneurship and highlighting the fact that CBCTV and the local communities are inextricably intertwined. The relationship between the entrepreneurship output and the social economy is explored by looking at how the entrepreneurs negotiate the day to day household operations. Although the CBCTV will not solve all the socio-economic problems associated with rural economies, they enable households to diversify the means of earning income and influence the community‘s development orientation and process. Given the nature of the study and information generated by the research instruments, the next chapter highlights the conclusions drawn as representative of the experiences, perceptions and knowledge of rural women entrepreneurs. It also offers recommendations that guide decision making and facilitate changes in entrepreneurial policies. 159 CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 9.1 Introduction The nature-based CBT enterprises in the Sengwe and Makuleke communities have met limited success upon the withdrawal of external support and the benefits realised from the same have been limited to the provision of social support services and infrastructure. This thesis sought to understand the development of CBCTV and unearth the entrepreneurship skills of the rural women involved. The analysis of the participant entrepreneurs‘ experiences in the development of the CBCTV revealed that their entrepreneurship skills sets are innate and varied. An understanding of the participant entrepreneurs‘ experiences provides entry points in stimulating the host community‘s participation in the mainstream tourism activities and improving tourist experiences. It also unravels culturally-based tourism entrepreneurship as a social process thereby explaining its influence on household livelihoods and aggregate rural economies. The research objectives were central in the interpretation of the entrepreneurship skills in the context of CBCTV in Southern Africa. These objectives (section 1.4) were discussed in the study results detailed in chapters 5 to 8. This chapter highlights a summary of the research findings, theoretical contributions of the research, recommendations and areas of possible future research. 9.2 Summary of the research findings This section summarises the study‘s findings as presented in chapters 5, 6, 7 and 8. 9.2.1 CBCTV in Southern Africa The current study took a feminine dimension and detailed the experiences of rural women entrepreneurs involved in CBCTV. The cultural tourism resources are diverse (Saarinen & Rogerson, 2015); those predominant among the Shangan ethnic grouping include aesthetic experiences (women‘s dresses and necklaces made from beads, remnants of the Gonakudzingwa detention camp (Sengwe), the Baobab ‗deku‘ and Nyala trees that are located within the MCP); intellectual experiences (historical knowledge about the liberation war in Zimbabwe and the forced removals of the Makuleke clan from the Pafuri region and the traditional knowledge systems that governed natural resource use, such as the use of totems) and emotional experiences (being immersed within a rural community and experiencing the traditional beliefs and healing processes for example. The dominant cultural resources utilised by the participant entrepreneurs include food and crafts, and village tours, traditional events, festivals and the everyday life experiences are the least exploited for tourism purposes. 160 The analysis of the contextual factors (chapter 5) provides the spatial lens to help understand the experiences of rural women entrepreneurs in the case communities. The evidence from the study reveals that the case communities are located in the peripheral regions and are faced with poor infrastructure development. This constrains the entrepreneurs‘ intra-village mobility in search of ingredients in the case of food operators in the Sengwe community. Although the case communities border the major national parks in Southern Africa (KNP and GNP), the lack of good road networks hinders independent tourist movement. The communities end up relying on group travels facilitated by established tourism players as the tourists visiting the national parks demand cultural tourism products, a niche market that is served by women entrepreneurs. Evidence from the study revealed that rural women entrepreneurs utilise the cultural tourism resources to establish their ventures in the food, crafts and spiritual tourism categories. From this perspective the contextual factors (culture) positively influence the development of their tourism ventures. The ability of rural women entrepreneurs to establish businesses in the peripheral regions and be able to negotiate the numerous challenges they face in the day to day running of their ventures is largely attributed to the entrepreneurial skills that they possess. These skills are shaped by the contextual factors (section 7.4). Most notably, the researcher appreciates the roles played by the family structures and societal relationships in the development of the participants‘ personal entrepreneurial skills and technical skills. The family relationships and networks play a pivotal role in the transfer of skills and knowledge of the cultural norms and traditions that ultimately guide entrepreneurial behaviour among the entrepreneurs. The researcher also concluded that the management skills have been positively influenced by the donor support that centred on the development of handicrafts. The NGOs, for example SEVACA, provided women in the Sengwe community with training and a market for their crafts which prompted them to establish ventures that are inclined towards the crafts sector. The entrepreneurs‘ undertaking of tourism activities as a complementary livelihood option and the subsequent application of the traditional knowledge in the development of the tourism products and services (section 7.2.3.2) depicts risk-taking. The entrepreneurs are faced with a myriad of challenges (chapter 6) and their ability to sustain the tourism ventures indicates their tenacity and resilience. The emergence of preplanned tours as the dominant tourist segment also aided the development of ventures. The pre-planned tourist packages are scheduled and confined to a predetermined itinerary and the tourists also seek authentic cultural experiences to complement the nature-based activities. The participant entrepreneurs are enticed to tap into the niche market created and not exploited by the nature-based CBT enterprises. The handicrafts, food, 161 drama and interactions with the participant entrepreneurs help tourists to develop knowledge regarding the historical account of the local communities. They provide an inextricable connection between nature and the local people (culture and lifestyle) that is nurtured in rural contexts. The time constraint means the tourists cannot experience the community‘s everyday life and festivals. Besides, such tourist activities are rarely marketed. The study findings also reveal that the culturally-based tourism activities are undertaken within staged environments that are located within the case communities. The CBCTV in the Sengwe community are located at a business centre whilst the interactions between the participant entrepreneurs and the tourists in the Makuleke community took place at the amphitheatre. The researcher concluded that the resultant image mirrored in the tourist minds and knowledge accumulated is based on the staged activities. For example, the food types that are mainly served comprise meat products but, in the real life experiences of the community, the traditional chicken is served only when there are visitors and on special occasions. All this is against a backdrop of the tourists searching for authentic experiences and being driven by the desire to learn (Guzel & Apaydin, 2017). Whilst this research provides an analysis of the nature of culturally-based tourism in Southern Africa, it is important to note that the characteristics of the CBCTV were understood as micro, owner-managed, informal and with family members/relatives as staff (section 5.6.3). Mura and Ključnikov (2018) credits the small sized nature of rural enterprises citing that such a structure helps in niche marketing and offering unique and personalised tourism products and services. That is, the entrepreneurs‘ knowledge about the community‘s ways of life and customs positively enriches the tourists‘ knowledge and resulting experiences. The female entrepreneurs have managed to establish ventures in sectors with which they are familiar, crafts and catering. This indicates that tacit knowledge and prior work experience positively influence enterprise development. This supports Mayaka's (2015) conclusions that the development of ventures by local female entrepreneurs is deeply rooted in the local knowledge systems and understanding of community customs that can be learned from relatives and other community members. The evidence from the study also revealed that there is a relationship between the socio- economic characteristics and the development of CBCTV. Notably, all the participants were aged above thirty years and the majority were married. It is interesting to note that most of the ventures were established between 1998 and 2002, with most of the participants being aged between 24 and 30 years during that time. Resultantly, the researcher concluded that the development of venture enterprises in rural economies is positively influenced by family support and donor interventions. The establishment of the ventures is an attempt by the female 162 entrepreneurs to improve their means of survival and the external agencies helped them to tailor make their products to meet the tourism market (Mayaka, 2015). 9.2.2 The development of the entrepreneurial skills The study findings revealed that the participant entrepreneurs‘ skills are shaped by prior experience, mentorship, education and tacit processes. Most of the entrepreneurs were involved in the ventures prior to their involvement in tourism activities, the handicrafts and food operations are familial activities. This indicates that prior work experience impacts the development of entrepreneurial skills. This led to the conclusion that the entrepreneurial skills among rural women entrepreneurs are developed through intergenerational acculturation and participants‘ own experiences. Education especially the training and workshops offered by the NGOs, improved venture management skills (oral communication and record keeping skills) and social networking skills with other entrepreneurs. The research gathered different accounts of the participant entrepreneurs‘ experiences which complicated the identification of their entrepreneurship skills. The findings from this study reveal that rural women entrepreneurs are good in various skills dimensions and each entrepreneur had their own skills set. The dominant skills among rural women entrepreneurs include innovation and creativity, product development and venture organising skills. Rural women possess moderate communication (oral), and leadership skills but written communication skills are lacking. This is evidenced by the inability to produce management and budgeting reports. The market development, opportunity identification and marketing skills are also lacking. Apart from the lack of some management skills, the participant entrepreneurs are burdened with reproductive roles. The need to strike a balance between entrepreneurial tasks and reproductive duties constrain the entrepreneurs to realise their growth potential. 9.2.3 CBCTV as a livelihood strategy The study objectives also include an assessment of the contributions of the CBCTV towards household livelihoods. The participant entrepreneurs acknowledge an improvement in their household livelihoods as a result of their involvement in the tourism activities. The ventures provide rural women with a means to earn a monthly income that they use to purchase household assets, finance household activities (especially agriculture) and support daily family needs. The ability of the participant entrepreneurs to finance the educational and health needs of their dependents and sustain their living standards even in the face of natural disasters such as droughts and floods indicate that venture activities positively influence household livelihoods. In a nutshell, the research findings a presented in a recoiling spiral shown in the figure below 163 Figure 9-1: The recoiling spiral depicting rural women entrepreneurs’ experiences in CBCTV Venture development Entrepreneurship skills development Entrepreneur experiences Aggregate development halt New venture &/ Benefits venture growth Source: own illustration Figure 9-1 identifies the components that conceptualises this research and the recoiling nature of the spiral depicts the actual study results. It summarises the entrepreneurship process based on the triangulated relationship of the entrepreneurs‘ experiences, tourist encounters and utilisation of the community‘s cultural resources within tourism entrepreneurship and SLF from the female entrepreneurs‘ perspective. The establishment of CBCTV in the case communities is a dynamic social process that is influenced by contextual factors. The evidence from the study reveals that most of the ventures in existence were established between 1998 and 2002 (section 5.6.3). This means that either the ventures established in later years have had high failure rate (halt) or no new ventures were established at all. The entrepreneurs‘ experiences (negotiation of everyday challenges and meeting new tourists) facilitate the development of their entrepreneurship skills (resilience and oral communication for example). The social interactions and the local knowledge systems all shape the entrepreneurs‘ 164 experiences and contribute towards the development of the entrepreneurial skills. The utilisation of the cultural resources result in the entrepreneurs enjoying both monetary and non-monetary benefits which were explained in chapter 8 using the SLF. The lack of exposure and interventions from external players such as NGOs and government departments results in the entrepreneurs using local knowledge to develop their businesses. As a result, the entrepreneurs lack the technological skills and ability to recognise new opportunities or to create new ventures and the recoiling nature of the spiral indicates that the same output, quality and processing techniques are used within the entrepreneurship process and there is continuity of the same venture categories. As such, the thin blue line in the diagram depicts an expanded spiral and evidence from the study indicates the marginal growth realised within existing enterprises and new ventures being created in the case communities. Exceptional cases include Lirhando, a food operator in the Makuleke community whose venture is able to cater group travel and has equipment specifically dedicated to outside catering. Figure 9-1 further illustrates that the entrepreneurs‘ outcomes contribute to rural economies when aggregated (section 8.2). The entrepreneurship outcomes also include the entrepreneurs‘ contributions to the mainstream tourism. For example, the necklaces produced by craftpreneurs are souvenirs that depict the VaTsonga‘s identity. The beadwork, food and the entrepreneurs‘ dresses are the visual objects that introduce the tourists to the case communities‘ cultural systems and organisation and are representative of the broader community. The benefits when aggregated result in the stimulation of rural economies that shape the development of entrepreneurship skills among the entrepreneurs. These illustrations reveal the need for interventions to stimulate venture growth and section 9.4 discusses possible recommendations for a way forward in improving entrepreneurial skills. The next section focuses on the contributions of this study. 9.3 Contributions to the study and implications Having presented a summary of the study‘s findings, this section highlights both methodological and literature contributions made to CBTE in the case communities. The contributions highlight how the study addressed the research objectives and the multiple realities that characterise the development of culturally-based tourism ventures and the resultant impact to both household livelihoods and rural economies. The focus is on bringing together elements of entrepreneurship and CBT to explain the human and social capital from a feminist socio-economic viewpoint focusing on identifying entrepreneurship skills in the case communities. 165 9.3.1 Methodological contributions This section illustrates the novel methods for studying female entrepreneurs and the type of cultural tourism activitiesin which they engage. The study used specific case communities to explore the experiences of female entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial skills that have enabled them to sustain their CBCTV. The researcher provides a snapshot of the methodological practicalities of qualitative research techniques (semi-structured interviews, participant observation and informal conversations) used to gather data in this study. Most of the literature concentrates on defining these techniques highlighting their merits and demerits and rarely provides the technical details of how to implement them, especially in rural contexts. The application of ontological and epistemological perspectives helps to reveal the dual nature of the political contexts and contends that researchers ought to solicit consent from both the administrative and traditional authorities before approaching the participants. In addition, it is also imperative to seek the consent of household heads when the participants are women due to the patriarchal nature of rural communities in Southern Africa. This research emphasises the importance of being immersed in the case context and participating in both the entrepreneurial activities and every day events when studying human behaviour while in search of an in-depth understanding of entrepreneurship experiences. In this case, the researcher wonders how the participants‘ narratives about their experiences could have been different when interviews were held over the telephone or focus group discussions were used to gather data. The informal interactions complemented the participant observations and semi-structured interviews to provide insights about how social networks influence the development of the entrepreneurship skills and other tasks in which the entrepreneurs engage to earn an income. As such, an explanation of the entrepreneurship process was gained by focusing on the entrepreneurs‘ day to day activities (that is, including both the reproductive tasks and the entrepreneurship activities). In addition, the methods employed in this study highlight the importance of understanding human behaviour from multiple dimensions. The use of participant observation helped to question how contextual factors influence cultural tourism activities and the semi-structured interviews gave the participants a platform to share their day to day entrepreneurship experiences. This helped to co-construct multiple realities of the entrepreneurship phenomenon both in the entrepreneurship process and entrepreneurship outcomes. The researcher postulated that while the focus of the entrepreneurs was on tourism earnings, other entrepreneurship outcomes observed were skills transfer, resource use, perpetuation of gender roles and socio-economic impact on the case communities‘ economies. All this is understood while taking into consideration the challenges encountered in the data collection. These 166 challenges include the language barriers and how poor road and communication networks affect access to the participants. This study provides ways to negotiate these barriers such as the use of locals as research assistants and communicating with would-be participants beforehand. Simply put, the methodological aspects in this study illustrate the importance of maintaining flexibility when carrying out research projects. The sharing of details about the fieldwork techniques assist new researchers and potentially develop knowledge regarding the methodological consequences of the qualitative research techniques chosen. The presentation of data in this study is characterised by the use of extensive quotes and photographs. The use of photographs help to visualise the cultural elements that are used by these female entrepreneurs. For example, Figure 7-1 not only reveals the wares on display but also the women‘s dress and social skills (posture and facial expressions). The use of the photographs supports the narratives and also helps in detailing the nature of the processes thereby facilitating the drawing of conclusions. 9.3.2 Theoretical contributions This study combined literature on CBT and entrepreneurship to analyse culturally-based tourism activities within rural contexts and explain entrepreneurship outcomes using the SLF to draw out gaps in knowledge that are often overlooked. The deliberate focus on culture as an economic resource helps to understand that rural communities have diverse capital that can easily be tapped to enhance rural livelihoods. Apart from the wildlife resources, the case communities‘ ethnic activities and the countryside capital are tourism resources that are equally important and shape destination competitiveness. Previous ethnographic accounts of the case communities (Chiutsi & Saarinen, 2017; Maluleke, 2018; Spenceley, 2008; Uhr & Steenkamp, 2000; Van Zyl, 2010) revealed much about the forced removals, history, local livelihoods and social interactions. In all this, the communities are viewed as homogeneous and this research fits in to fill this gap by subdividing the communities on the basis of gender. This study is based on the narratives of rural women, a marginalised economic group, which helps to tap into their experiences and local knowledge and strengthen existing literature. These narratives support the mainstream CBNRM literature and detail how cultural tourism complements nature-based tourism activities pursued in the case communities. The study presents the ways that rural women entrepreneurship activities use the cultural resources that were previously overlooked in the development of tourism in Southern Africa (Saarinen & Rogerson, 2015) to improve household livelihoods. Rural women entrepreneurs are viewed as economic actors in this study whose efforts, both in entrepreneurship processes and reproductive work impacts rural economies. The literature regarding rural women‘s economic 167 contributions has been lacking, Table 8-2, for example, provides the aggregate per capita incomes earned between December 2018 and March 2019 and this information is not captured in national statistics. The previous research has focused on CAMPFIRE earnings, and concession fees and grants received in the Sengwe and Makuleke communities respectively. From this perspective, this research unearths tourism earnings received by the community members and the use of the SLF to analyse the tourism entrepreneurship impact also helps to highlight the non-monetary benefits accrued to the entrepreneurs and the broader community. All this helps to provide a picture of how both the natural and the cultural tourism assets contribute to rural economies. The understanding of CBT as an entrepreneurship process affirms Giampiccoli et al.'s (2014) assertion that communities are involved in CBT in multiple ways. Osman and Bakar (2014) explains Malaysia‘s homestay while Chen et al. (2018) and Thompson (2004) explain rural tourism impacts in Japan. There have been no studies that seek to determine the manner in which cultural tourism unfolds in Southern Africa‘s rural landscapes which led (Manwa et al. (2016) to conclude that tourism aspects in Southern Africa revolve on natural resources especially wildlife. It is against this view that this study focused on the lived-in experiences of the female entrepreneurs involved in CBCTV. This helped to identify the different culturally- based tourism activities that are undertaken in the case communities (chapter 6). Therefore, the study‘s findings further develop our understanding of the cultural resources used for tourism purposes and the implication that tourism entrepreneurship has on the economies of the case communities. As such, the establishment of the CBCTV depicts the community‘s self- mobilisation with minimum support from external players. The current study conceptualised the experiences of female entrepreneurs in different venture categories thereby revealing the different ways in which cultural tourism is shaped. From this study, the recoiling spiral (Figure 9- 1) was developed to explain the tourism entrepreneurship process and the impact of tourism activities on the development of entrepreneurial skills and sustainance of household livelihoods. The experiences of rural women entrepreneurs in this study increase our understanding of how rural women entrepreneurs acquire and consolidate entrepreneurial skills, their motivations, and how culturally-based tourism activities impact their everyday lives and household livelihoods. Much of the literature on CBT has focused on the involvement of communities with a bias towards nature-based CBT. The tourism interests in nature-based CBT are intertwined with conservation demands resulting in the involvement of multiple stakeholders and huge capital requirements. This constrains the community‘s active participation, for example the Makuleke community‘s contractual park is managed by South African National Parks (SANP) authorities while the lodges are leased to private players (Louw, 2010; Shehab, 2011). The community‘s 168 benefits are limited to employment opportunities and earning lease fees. On the other hand, the establishment of CBCTV provides rural women with an opportunity to complement mainstream tourism activities through the exploitation of cultural tourism resources. The evidence from the study indicates that the venture activities are an example of the communities‘ self-mobilisation and a non-deliberate attempt to adapt and improve household livelihoods. The aspects of rural communities‘ self-mobilisation are overlooked in the existing literature which indicate that tourism activities in the case communities are driven by external agencies. In fact, this study portrays the ability of rural women entrepreneurs to use their cultural assets, knowledge and skills in the development of culturally-based tourism activities. From this perspective, this study illustrates rural women entrepreneurs‘ active involvement in tourism planning and development. Rural women are representative of the broader community and their collaborations with family, friends and neighbours reinforces this. This also points to the fact that collaborations within tourism entrepreneurship are not only with private players but several actors are involved in the development of the CBCTV. In this study, the external agencies (NGOs and government departments) play catalyst and advocacy roles for already established ventures. The findings of this study thus illustrate the potential of local knowledge and local systems in developing local ventures and alleviating social ills inherent in rural communities. Figure 3-1 helps to explain the dynamics of the rural economy. While the figure illustrates that the case communities‘ economies are supported by remittances, agriculture, tourism and trade; the focus of this study was on rural women entrepreneurs (human and social capital) and how they utilise the cultural tourism resources to sustain their households. This research contends that rural women entrepreneurs possess entrepreneurial skills that enable them to sustain their ventures. To demonstrate these skills, this research concentrates on how female entrepreneurs identify opportunities, negotiate everyday challenges and manage to produce tourism products and services. These tourism products and services contribute to the overall tourist experiences and are part and parcel of the mainstream tourism activities (Mgonja et al., 2015). This study positions rural women entrepreneurs as hosts whose activities influence tourism outcomes and rural economies when aggregated. Rural women are thus economic agents within the tourism ecosystem who collaborate with established tourism players and other local community stakeholders and contribute towards the tourism products and services experienced in the case communities. The study explains rural women‘s entrepreneurial skills and how the skills are utilised in sustaining CBCTV, knowledge that is currently overlooked when assessing CBT using macro level framework (Muñoz-Fernández et al., 2019). In this case, the entrepreneurial skills are deduced and interpreted when the entrepreneurs reflect on their experiences and how they perform venture activities as hosts that reproduce their own identities as members of the community and women. 169 Figure 3-1 also highlights that rural women entrepreneurs‘ tourism ventures impact the rural economy. Chapter 8 explained how the tourism ventures impact the individual livelihoods and the local economies when aggregated. Such a dimension enriches the literature which has emphasised the contributions of nature-based CBT at community level (Ashley, 2000; Frost & Bond, 2008; Louw, 2010; Shehab, 2011) by highlighting the different ways in which the CBCTV contributes to the local economies at household level. More so, the study contributes to literature through the application of the SLF when determining the impact of CBCTV, an aspect of informal activities in the case communities. Çakmak et al. (2018) indicate that the informal entrepreneurs‘ skills are overlooked in tourism discussions. This study explains how the informal entrepreneurs exploit the cultural and social capital and be able to complement the nature- based CBT activities that are dominant in the case communities. This brings to the fore the fact that tourism venture activities complement the activities of the formal tourism businesses. The potential CBCTV that rural women entrepreneurs can easily develop are also highlighted by drawing examples of the nature of tourism ventures established by rural women elsewhere. Still expanding on CBTE, the research explains rural women‘s tourism entrepreneurship as a personal career that is driven by situational demands. The entrepreneurs‘ narratives about everyday enterprises show their skill sets and that they contribute to household economies by alleviating poverty and completing reproductive tasks. The study explained the contributions of the entrepreneurship process (chapter 8) using the SLF. The contributions highlighted include both monetary and non-monetary benefits; which help to explain entrepreneurship as a social process that meets the needs of the marginalised (rural women) and promotes socio-economic progress in rural economies. The feminine dimension of this study and the analysis of CBT that is embedded in cultural contexts further explain entrepreneurship as a social process. This helps to explain how improvements in the entrepreneurs‘ abilities (human capital) are necessary to improve the quality of tourism offerings and tourism income earned will aid household livelihoods. Already Xu et al. (2018) concur with Zhou's (2010) conclusions that rural women play a crucial role in the tourism economy through coordinating the relationships between the community needs and their entrepreneurship goals. This study illustrates how local knowledge and social relationships guide the development of the CBCTV in the case communities. This is evidenced by the similarities in the establishment of the same tourism venture categories and use of the same product development techniques despite the entrepreneurs operating in different geographical locations. 9.4 Recommendations The current study revealed that rural women entrepreneurs in the case communities have been able to develop and sustain their ventures with limited entrepreneurial skills. To further facilitate 170 development of the tourism ventures and derive meaningful benefits there is a need to create an environment that supports opportunity utilisation and the development of the entrepreneurial skills among rural women. There is a need to ease the complications and bureaucratic procedures inherent in the formalisation of these business ventures. In this instance, the local communities‘ culture and institutions (family, traditional authority) influence the performance of women entrepreneurs (Fortunato & Alter, 2015) as they impact the context in which the ventures are developed. The MCPA ,for example, can develop marketing materials (brochures, websites and pamphlets) that also promote rural women‘s micro enterprises together with other tourism attractions in the community. The local authorities also need to inform the participant entrepreneurs of the ways of obtaining licences and the benefits of being licenced. The local authorities and the NGOs also need to support the entrepreneurs in further developing the ventures to ensure quality tourist experiences. The former might offer tax holidays and grants while the latter provide technical and financial assistance in the development of working areas and acquisition of the equipment for the food operations. The cooperation and collaborations with other tourism stakeholders (national tourism organisations, local authorities, NGOs and private players) help the female entrepreneurs to improve their skills there are lacking that include tourism legislation, marketing and market research and development. The entrepreneurs themselves also need to communicate with experienced entrepreneurs both within the case communities and in other communities to strengthen their social networks and support structures. Rural women entrepreneurs have to establish tourism cooperatives which help them to strive for their rights and interests, and confront established organisations with one voice. This includes the negotiation of prices of their tourism products and services for example. Xu et al. (2018) posit that these social networks are weak and integration with government departments helps to develop the human capital. All this indicates that entrepreneurship as an economic activity is deeply entrenched within the societal structures and policies (Fortunato & Alter, 2015), and an understanding of all the components of the entrepreneurship ecosystem at local level help to sustain the success of the women‘s micro enterprises. There is a need for the national tourism organisations to appreciate the development of culturally-based tourism ventures and develop guidelines that favour them. The majority of the CBT master plans overlook the micro enterprises and focus on established businesses. In this case, the development of the guidelines will be crucial in providing a framework in which these ventures can be nurtured, and rural women entrepreneurs equipped with the skills they lack. It is also imperative to develop guidelines with the cultural and religious values of the host communities in mind. The support of the social norms facilitates tourism entrepreneurship and also improves acceptability and willingness of the local people to engage in and support tourism ventures. 171 Rural women lack market development and marketing skills which limits their ability to access the source markets and the women need to work with other value chain actors within the tourism system. Hotels, for example, extend the market for handicrafts and travel agents help in market research, marketing and packaging of the tourism products and services. The entrepreneurs can also take advantage of the cost effectiveness of the social media sites to market their tourism products and services. In the case of entrepreneurs in the Sengwe community, the National Handicraft Centre might be handy in marketing and displaying their crafts. The new markets are crucial in the provision of linkages to new markets and adoption of new technologies. The high temperatures influence the villagers to grass thatch their houses and the researcher realised that most villagers in the Sengwe slept outside their homes as a result of the high temperatures. The villagers can offer camping facilities for the tourists and increase their sources of their tourism income whilst, at the same time, offering the tourists unique tourism experiences. This is possible through developing direct marketing platforms that include websites, emails and social media sites and the entrepreneurs have to group themselves and approach the travel agencies so that they market the products on their behalf. Direct marketing will extend tourist stay within the case communities and also expose the tourists to other tourism activities that include village tours and agritourism (Kotler & Keller, 2006). In addition, there is a need to appreciate that cultural tourism resources are diverse and can be used to enhance tourist experiences. Examples of tourist activities that can be developed further include hosting and marketing cultural events, village tours (including visiting historical sites in the Old Pafuri region, in the case of the Makuleke community) and tourists co-participating in everyday life activities (Ezeuduji & Rid, 2011; Nkwanyana et al., 2016). To aid trade relations between the neighbouring communities the researcher suggests that the relevant authorities should make use of identity documents or written letters from the headman acknowledging that the resident is a resident in their communities. This will improve the security concerns of rural women and restore previous migratory routes between the Sengwe and Makuleke communities. 9.5 Limitations of the study The study dealt with specific study areas and the results cannot be easily generalised to other communities. The focus on the Shangaan people in Zimbabwe and South Africa alone limits the conclusions of the research findings. Southern Africa is made up of sixteen member states hence the cases are not representative of Southern Africa as a whole. Besides, there are numerous ethnic groupings other than the Shangaan people who are involved in community- 172 based tourism initiatives, hence the cultural differences limits the application of research findings to such situations. However, it is imperative to note that Zimbabwe and South Africa have fared well in terms of community based tourism policy formulation, capacitation and involvement (Mbaiwa, 2013; Mgonja et al., 2015), making them ideal representative of Southern Africa. The Shangaan people are also found in Botswana and Mozambique for example, and the generalisation of the entrepreneurial skills of rural women based on Zimbabwe and South Africa is appropriate. The study gathered data relating to the entrepreneurial skills from entrepreneurs that are running micro enterprises in different categories (food operations, crafts and spiritual tourism) and at different phases of the entrepreneurial process. Although the study managed to reveal these different forms of ventures within cultural tourism, the analysis of the entrepreneurs‘ skills was viewed as homogeneous. Nonetheless, the ventures were formed as a result of the entrepreneurs being exposed to different environments (education and prior experience, and different backgrounds that place expectations and standards of behaviour). The differences are also inherent even among the entrepreneurs in the same venture category as the ventures might be in different phases of the entrepreneurship process. From this perspective, the entrepreneurial skill sets viewed as lacking in one entrepreneur might have been because the stage of the venture does not require the use of the skill (Mamabolo & Myres, 2020). The adoption of a multi-phase approach in the understanding of the entrepreneurial skills helps to clarify what might be viewed as a lack of skill in one entrepreneur as being a phase in the entrepreneurship process that requires less of that skill (Hahn et al., 2019). The selection of the entrepreneurs who have established their ventures for more than two years is an attempt to select the entrepreneurs running ventures that are at the same phase of the entrepreneurship process. The analysis of the entrepreneurs‘ gives a historical account and trends in the performance of the ventures which helps to explain the presence or lack of entrepreneurial skills. The participants‘ narratives of their own experiences also helps to determine how they manage their ventures which facilitated the interpretation and deduction of the entrepreneurial skills applied in given contexts. The deduction of the entrepreneurial skills from the entrepreneurs‘ narratives is a complex endeavour when one considers the differences between theory and practice, and also failure to clearly explain a particular activity. 173 9.6 Future research This research interpreted the experiences and perceptions of female entrepreneurs involved in culturally-based tourism ventures in rural economies from a socio-economic perspective. It also identified the actual and perceived entrepreneurship skills possessed by rural women. Further research is required to examine how local knowledge systems and cultural traditions and norms can be used to develop entrepreneurship skills among the youths. The research has also uncovered that there are interactions between the entrepreneurs and other tourism stakeholders and interest was placed on the entrepreneurs‘ experiences when interacting with the tourists and the broader community. Future research should address the perceptions of the tourists and the broader community towards the female entrepreneurs‘ CBCTV. While the current research has revealed that the participants‘ personality attributes (resilience and inner drive) have been instrumental in sustaining the ventures, an understanding of the tourists‘ and broader community‘s perceptions will contribute towards the growth and development of the ventures. The study findings help female entrepreneurs to self-evaluate and identify the strengths and weaknesses that stimulate them to improve their operations. There is a need to look at how the local leaders, local authorities and NTOs can create an enabling environment for the success of CBCTV. 9.7 Chapter summary This research provides knowledge on how culturally-based tourism activities impact household livelihoods in the case communities. It examined the experiences, knowledge and perceptions of rural women entrepreneurs to facilitate a greater understanding of their entrepreneurial skills (both actual and perceived). The understanding of the link between the development of the entrepreneurial skills and the contextual factors in the day to day entrepreneurial experiences helps to shade light about tourism as an economic activity in rural communities. The findings of this research place rural women entrepreneurs as active actors in the development of cultural tourism ventures. Such knowledge and understanding of rural women entrepreneurs‘ experiences help to illustrate the external agencies‘ entry points to support the entrepreneurship process. The lessons learned provide insights to guide the conceptual advancement of culturally-based tourism, and tourism as a tool to combat poverty and support rural economies. The recommendations provide possible ways to enhance female tourism entrepreneurship in rural contexts and improve rural women‘s entrepreneurial skills. 174 REFERENCES Acharya, B., & Halpenny, E. (2013). Homestays as an alternative tourism product for sustainable community development: A case study of women managed tourism product in rural Nepal. Tourism Planning and Development, 10(4), 367–387. Adams, W. M., & Hulme, D. (2001). Conservation and communities: Changing narratives, policies and practices in African conservation. In D. Hulme & M. Murphree (Eds.), African wildlife and livelihoods: The promise and performance of community conservation. 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Section 2: Tourism enterprise Information • Briefly describe the nature of your tourism enterprise and the products you offer • What resources do you use to develop products? • Where do you obtain the resources to develop your products? • when and how the enterprise was initiated • Would you like to tell me the story of how you get involved in your tourism business (age, who inspired you or taught you, when and why) • What is the nature of business performance? • Briefly describe the nature, geographical demarcation and buying patterns of customers • Are there any sources and forms of support (family, NGOs, government and private sector)? • In what ways have you been supported? • What activities do you undertake to boost enterprise performance? • Describe your experiences and perceptions of the tourism enterprise Entrepreneurial characteristics • What motivates you to being an entrepreneur? • Apart from yourself, who else is involved in the running of the enterprise? • What guides you when making decisions regarding the output, pricing, target market and marketing methods implemented by your enterprise? • What is the size of the market for your products? • Describe the product range you offer and or intends to be offer • On monthly average, how much income do you earn from the tourism initiatives? • Outline the successes you have made to date relating to the development of your enterprise • What problems encountered and in what ways have you resolved them? 211 • In your opinion, how can the enterprise‘s competitiveness be improved? Section 4: livelihood strategies • What strategies do you pursue to enhance your household livelihoods? • What influence does the tourism enterprise initiatives have on household livelihood? • Do you have any other additional information? • Thank you for your time 212 Annexure II: Verbal Consent Form for Semi structured interview participants Title of research project: Sustainable community-based tourism: The entrepreneurial skills of the rural women in Southern Africa. Introduction: You are kindly invited to take part in a study that Godfrey Makandwa is conducting for the fulfilment of the requirements for the PhD Tourism Management at the North-West University, South Africa. I the Researcher: will read through this carefully with the participant • I agree to participate in this research project and I understand that my participation is entirely voluntary. • I understand that confidentiality and anonymity will be protected. • I have read/been read this consent form and the information it contains and had the opportunity to ask questions about them. • I agree to my responses being used for this research on condition my privacy is respected. • I understand that my personal details will be used in aggregate form only, so that I will not be personally identifiable. • I understand I have the right to withdraw from this project at any stage. PARTICIPANT: Printed Name of Participant Date For verbal consent only (to be completed by me the researcher) I (Name of Researcher), herewith confirm that the above participant has been fully informed about the above study and has given verbal consent to participate in the study. 213 Annexure III: Tape-Recording Consent Form Title of research project: Sustainable community-based tourism for sustainability: The entrepreneurial skills of the rural women in Southern Africa. Introduction: Hello, my name is Godfrey Makandwa, a PhD student at North-West University. I am carrying out a study that is exploring the entrepreneurial skills of rural women in Community based tourism in Sothern Africa. In this research I want to learn how the rural women are initiating and sustaining their tourism operations. This includes establishing their skills sets, experiences and perceptions and how their entrepreneurial initiatives are influencing household livelihoods. This study will bring to the fore the influence of social support on women entrepreneurial success and how human resources can be a competitive advantage for destination attractiveness. Can the researcher tape this interview? • I understand that tape-recording is voluntary • I understand that if at any point I feel uncomfortable tape-recording will be stopped. • I understand that recorded information will be confidential and will only be accessible to the researcher. • I understand that if at any point I want to withdraw from this study, recordings will be destroyed • I understand that transcripts of the interviews will be made available upon request • I agree/do not agree that my interview be tape-recorded • I agree/ do not agree that my verbal consent be tape recorded as well. Print Name (in full) ____________________________________________________ Signature_______________________ Date___________________________ 214 Annexure IV: Information Sheet for the participants Research title: Sustainable community-based tourism for sustainability: The entrepreneurial skills of the rural women in Southern Africa. Introduction: Hello, my name is Godfrey Makandwa, a PhD student at North-West University. I am carrying out a study that is exploring the entrepreneurial skills of rural women in Community based tourism in Sothern Africa. In this research I want to learn how the rural women are initiating and sustaining their tourism operations. This includes establishing their skills sets, experiences and perceptions and how their entrepreneurial initiatives are influencing household livelihoods. This study will bring to the fore the influence of social support on women entrepreneurial success and how human resources can be a competitive advantage for destination attractiveness. Invitation to participate: I am inviting you to participate in this research study as it will help in understanding the experiences of rural women running community based tourism initiatives. What this study entails Your participation in this study include the following • The study involves one-on-one interviews that will be conducted in a private space agreeable to you and me. • If you give permission, I would like to audio record the interview. If you are not comfortable with it I will not record the conversation. • I will also ask you if there are other women in your area who are running tourism enterprises, who will be willing to participate in this study so that I can conduct them. • The initial interview will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour and I may ask you that we meet again for a second time to talk more about this. Risks: This study has minimum risks; confidentiality and anonymity will be guaranteed since it will be a one on one interview with the researcher and also will make use of pseudonyms so that the information you provide will not be traced back to you. Benefits: there are no direct benefits for participating in this study; however it will help in improving rural livelihood and rural women‘s entrepreneurial processes. Costs: there are no direct costs associated with participating in this study, • Participation is entirely voluntary. • You are welcome to withdraw from this research at any time without any costs for doing so. • The information that will be collected is purely for academic and research purposes and to learn more about the narrative experiences of the rural women involved in tourism enterprises in a rural set up 215 Annexure V: Information Sheet for local leaders Research title: Sustainable community-based tourism for sustainability: The entrepreneurial skills of the rural women in Southern Africa. Introduction: Hello, my name is Godfrey Makandwa, a PhD student at North-West University. I am carrying out a study that is exploring the entrepreneurial skills of rural women in Community based tourism in Sothern Africa. In this research I want to learn how the rural women are initiating and sustaining their tourism operations. This includes establishing their skills sets, experiences and perceptions and how their entrepreneurial initiatives are influencing household livelihoods. This study will bring to the fore the influence of social support on women entrepreneurial success and how human resources can be a competitive advantage for destination attractiveness. Invitation to participate: I am seeking permission to conduct the research in your area as it will help in understanding the experiences of rural women running community based tourism initiatives. What this study entails This study includes the following: • The study involves one-on-one interviews that will be conducted in a private space agreeable to the participant and me. • If given permission, I would like to audio record the interview. If the participant is not comfortable with it I will not record the conversation. • I will also ask you if there are other women in your area who are running tourism enterprises, who will be willing to participate in this study so that I can conduct them. • The initial interview will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour and I may ask the participant that we meet again for a second time to talk more about this. Risks: This study has minimum risks; confidentiality and anonymity will be guaranteed since it will be a one on one interview with the researcher and also will make use of pseudonyms so that the information you provide will not be traced back to you. Benefits: there are no direct benefits for participating in this study; however it will help in improving rural livelihood and rural women‘s entrepreneurial processes. Costs: there are no direct costs associated with participating in this study, • Participation is entirely voluntary. • The participants are welcome to withdraw from the research at any time without any costs for doing so. The information that will be collected is purely for academic and research purposes and to learn more about the narrative experiences of the rural women involved in tourism enterprises in a rural set up 216 Appendix VI: University Ethics Clearance NORTH-WEST UNIVERSITY YUNIBESITI YA BOKONE-BOPHIRIMA NOORDWES-UNIVERSITEIT POTCHEFSTROOM C A M P U S Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom South Africa 2520 Tel: 018 299-1111/2222 Web: http://www.nwu.ac.za TREES: Tourism Research in Economic Environs and Society Tel: 018 285-2331 Fax: 018 2994140 Email: Hanneri.Borstlap@nwu.ac.za 31 January 2019 ETHICAL CLEARANCE This letter serves to confirm that the research project of, Godfrey Makandwa with the title " Community-based tourism for sustainability: The entrepreneurial skills of the rural women in Southern Africa " has undergone ethical review. The proposal was presented at a Faculty Research Meeting and accepted. The Faculty Research Meeting assigned the project number EMS2016/11/04-02/27. This acceptance deems the proposed research as being of minimal risk, granted that all requirements of anonymity, confidentiality and informed consent are met. This letter should form part or your thesis manuscript submitted for examination purposes. Yours sincerely __________________ Prof M Saayman Director: TREES 217 Annexure VII: Sengwe community research approval 218 Annexiture VIII: Makuleke community research approval 219 Annexiture IX: Language editing certificate 215 Republic Road Rod Taylor Randpark 2194 Language editor & proofreader Trading as Telephone: 084 716 6588 Wordstar Email: wordstar@iafrica.com 16 November 2020 To whom it may concern Language Editing – Thesis – G. Makandwa I have reviewed the thesis entitled “Sustainable community-based tourism: The entrepreneurial skills of rural women in Southern Africa” in terms of spelling, language and grammar and have made recommendations to the author concerning the changes necessary. R. Taylor MBA BSc DTM Chief Executive: Rod Taylor MBA BSc DTM (British) Reg No. CK 88/21843/23 220 Annexiture X: Similarity report 221 Annexure XI: Nongonoko wa kambelavutivi Vutshila bya mabindzu avamanani va matiko xi kaya a Dzong awa Afrika • Vito ra muganga, xifundza na tiko.……………………………………… • Malembe……………………………….. • Rimbewu ra nhloko ya munti.……………………………………. • Sayizi/ mpimo ya munti.………………………………… • Tanga ya swadyondyo………………………………………………….. Vuxokoxoko bya bindzu ra vuyendzi • Nhlamusela hi kukomisa bindzu ra wen ana swilunghisiwa uxavisaka? • Hi swihi swipfuneto untirhisaka ku lunghisa swi lunghisiwa? • Ukuma kwihi swi pfuneta swa swilunghisiwa swa wena xana? • Xana bindzu ra wena uri sungurile njhani na kona rhini? • Xana unga ni byela kurhi unghene njhani ka bindzu leri ra vuendzi (malembe, Imani anga ku hlohlotela kumbe k uku dyondyisa, rhini an kona imhaka muni? • Xana iyini ntumbuluko wa bindzu na ntirhelo wa rona? • Hi ku komisa nhlamusela kurhi bindzu ra wena iyini, ri kumeka mugangeni wihi na vuxavi bya ti khasimente ta wena. • Xana kuna nseketelo kumbe mfuno wihi uwukumaka (ndyangu, mintlawa yi ti yimeleleke, mfumo, mintlawa yale xihundleni) • Xana vaku nseketela hi ndlela yihi? • Xana hi swihi leswi u endlaka kurhi u antswisa ntirhelo ra bindzu ra wena? • Nhlamusela ntokoto wa wen ana matitwele hi swa bindzu ra wena ra vuendzi. Swikombiso swa vubindzu • I yini xinga ku nhlohlotela eku uva n‘wa mabindzu? • A handle ka wena Imani un‘wana afambisaku bindzu ra wena? • I yini xi ku kombisaka loko uka uteka swiboho swa tshovelo, xaviso, hakeliso, makete na Ndlela ya maxaviselo yi ntirhisiwaka hi bindzu ra wena? • Xana makete ya wena ikota kwihi? • Hlamusela swilungisiwa leswi uxavisaku kumbe leswi utolava ku xavisa? • hlayoxinkarhi ya n‘wheti, ikuma muholo unga njhani? Or hi swihi swingenaku eka migingiriko ya vuendzi? • Hlayetela swi humellelo leswi inga swi fikelela ku fika sikwini ra namunthla aka bindzu ra wena? • Hi swihi swiphiqo kumbe swirhalanganyi inga hlangana naswo na kona iswi hlurile njhani? 222 • Hi vonelo ra wena, bindzu ra vuendzi inga ri antswisa njhani? Ti Ndlela ta mahanyelo • Hi wahi maqinga ima endleka ku engetelela mahanyelo ale mutini? • Hi wihi nhlohlotelo kumbe vuyelo wutisiwaka hi bindzu ra vuendzi? • Xana una byi n‘wani vuxokoxoko ilavaka ku yengetela? • Na khensa hi nkarhi wa n‘wina. 223