Does gender identity play a role in the development of tourism entrepreneurial capabilities?

Orientation: Previous research conducted on gender roles in business performance has posited that women tend to be less successful, than men, as entrepreneurs. Research purpose: This study evaluated gender nuances regarding the development of entrepreneurial capabilities within tourism business operations in the Gauteng Province, South Africa. Motivation for the study: The motivation was to locate any significant gender differences in developing entrepreneurial capabilities and assuring positive business performance. Research design, approach and method: The study sampled 206 tourism entrepreneurs and used Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Reliability test and Mann–Whitney test to group constructs and compare profile groups and their responses. Main findings: Results indicated that there are no gender differences in ‘traditional societal perceptions’, ‘entrepreneurial attributes’, ‘marketing capability’, ‘people’s management and pro-business networking’, ‘government support’ and ‘education and business skills’, regarding business management or performance. However, gender identity played a role in the construct of ‘contra-business networking’, where female entrepreneurs agreed more to ‘contra-business networking’ citing the non-availability of time to attend business network meetings and a lack of awareness of these tourism business networks in their area. Practical/managerial implication: This study recommended that female tourism entrepreneurs use social media sites such as Facebook to empower and support themselves, to help close social policy gaps in South Africa. This is also applicable in other emerging countries that heavily rely on tourism. Contribution/value-add: Unlike previous studies, this study argues that gender identity plays no significant role in developing tourism entrepreneurial capabilities for business success. Keywords: gender and entrepreneurial capabilities; gender and business performance; gender and business operations; gender and entrepreneurial attributes; gender and business networking.