Empowering women for sustainable tourism: Evidence from Xijiang Miao village using PLS-SEM analysis

This study explores the role of women’s empowerment in shaping perceptions of tourism impacts and its influence on participation in sustainable tourism development in Xijiang Miao Village, Guizhou Province. Using a quantitative approach, data were collected through a structured questionnaire measuring five latent constructs: Women’s Empowerment, Ecological and Natural Impacts, Social and Cultural Impacts, Economic Impacts, and Participation in Sustainable Tourism. A total of 341 valid responses from local women involved in tourism-related activities were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results revealed that women’s empowerment significantly influenced their perceptions of ecological, social, and economic impacts, which, in turn, positively affected their involvement in sustainable tourism initiatives. The structural model was significant in explaining things and R 2 values were in the range of 25.8%–41.8% among the constructs. Effect size analysis indicated large effects of women’s empowerment on the perceived impacts, and the model’s predictive relevance was confirmed by satisfactory Q 2 values. The paper has exposed the importance of female empowerment on sustainable tourism practices and this gives valuable information on the governance of participation at the ethnically and culturally sensitive destinations. The findings suggest that the greater opportunities of women in the tourism societies can be translated to the more serious involvement in sustainable development in tourism that will result in the realization of economic and environmental sustainability in the region.