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Is It Really Culture or Religion? Challenges Surrounding Women Participation and Empowerment in Kelantan, Malaysia

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Women in Tourism in Asian Muslim Countries

Part of the book series: Perspectives on Asian Tourism ((PAT))

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Abstract

It is a common stigma surrounding many Muslim dominated rural tourism areas that women have limited participation and empowerment to contribute to the sustainable tourism development of surrounding areas. This is mainly due to the religious or cultural beliefs that women’s contribution to these communities is more likely to be associated with being the homemakers. However, in recent years, more evidence has pointed out that women in these areas have more capabilities and skills to contribute to sustainable development in relation to tourism. This paper discusses other prominent factors at play surrounding challenges in relation to women empowerment, particularly in Malay Muslim rural areas. The preliminary research was conducted to explore the challenges of women’s participation and empowerment in ecotourism. Through content analysis from interviews that were conducted in seven villages adjacent to three ecotourism areas in Kelantan, Malaysia, we present a discussion on the challenges relating to culture and religion surrounding women empowerment, as well as emerging themes on social, economic and political factors that affects women empowerment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Recreation and Ecotourism, Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Sheena Bidin, Azlizam Aziz & Zamru Ajuhari

Authors
  1. Sheena Bidin
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  2. Azlizam Aziz
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  3. Zamru Ajuhari
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Correspondence to Sheena Bidin .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Business, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Nataša Slak Valek

  2. College of Arts and Social Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman

    Hamed Almuhrzi

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Bidin, S., Aziz, A., Ajuhari, Z. (2021). Is It Really Culture or Religion? Challenges Surrounding Women Participation and Empowerment in Kelantan, Malaysia. In: Slak Valek, N., Almuhrzi, H. (eds) Women in Tourism in Asian Muslim Countries. Perspectives on Asian Tourism. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4757-1_8

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