A dual mediation examination between gender-related challenges and success of women entrepreneurs in community-based tourism

Although the tourist work environment has become characterized by masculinity, however, the tourism sector has become gender balanced after adopting the gender diversity initiative in the workplace to create equality and equal opportunities between males and females. Accordingly, this paper examines the potential effect of gender-related challenges on success of women entrepreneurs in tourism-related organizations. This paper also highlights the dual mediation effects of cultural preservation and entrepreneurial support in the association between gender-related challenges and success of women entrepreneurs. Using simple random sampling approach, data were gathered from 303 entrepreneurs at tourism-related organizations in Dahab, Egypt. After data coding using SPSS v.28, the final sample size was analyzed using WarpPLS v.8. Findings showed that gender-related challenges negatively affected cultural preservation and entrepreneurial support, while the success of women entrepreneurs was positively affected by cultural preservation and entrepreneurial support. Furthermore, cultural preservation and entrepreneurial support achieved partial mediation of the negative association between gender-related challenges and success of women entrepreneurs. Lastly, the greater the job experiences of women entrepreneurs, the greater their ability to achieve unprecedented success in their businesses with their intended organizations. As such, this paper makes significant academic and societal contributions towards promoting community tourism through academic support and cultural preservation provided to women entrepreneurs. These useful insights have implications for policymakers, community leaders, and stakeholders in fostering an enabling environment for gender equality and women empowerment in the tourism industry.