Abstract
Absract: There are many assumptions regarding the effects of tourism on the gendered lives of people. Oftentimes it is assumed that women are particularly affected by tourism without the necessary research to back such assertions, such as Botswana’s National Ecotourism Strategy (NES) which states that tourism may be positive for women but negative for men. Inspired by this binary construction, and with a theoretical framework which forges a staunch gender lens, this thesis explores how one ecotourism camp, located in rural Central District Botswana, subverts the broader gender order within which it exists. The research is based upon the use of participant observation, interviews and an analysis of family trees. The key conclusion is that the extent to which the ecotourism camp alters existing gender orders is limited. Not only is the camp structured through discourses similar to those of the broader gender order but there are few competing interests and limited cross-cultural interaction which would facilitate any subversion (whether positive or negative). This leads to the questioning of whether ecotourism, as a developmental concept, has been stretched too far.
M.A. (Tourism and Hospitality)