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Sociodemographic and socioeconomic heterogeneity in considering residents’ empowerment from ecotourism

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to challenge the notion that residents experience empowerment from ecotourism to the same degree in central Ecuador. The recently amended Resident Empowerment through Tourism Scale was employed to assess potential differences in six empowerment dimensions (i.e. economic, psychological, sociological, cultural, political, and environmental) considering a community’s socio-demographic and socioeconomic variables (i.e. age, gender, level of education, urban/rural place of residence, length of residence, and ecotourism employment). Understanding heterogeneity in residents’ empowerment will better assist tourism managers and planners in decision making efforts. Onsite survey data were collected from residents living in and adjacent to Riobamba at their homes between May and August of 2022. The final sample included 486 completed questionnaires. Multiple analyses of variance tests were conducted to reveal any significant differences in empowerment across socio-demographic and socioeconomic variables. Ecuadorians living in urban areas adjacent to Chimborazo volcano who are younger and more educated reported feeling the highest level of empowerment through ecotourism. Interestingly, responses on length of residence showed that newer residents reported higher degrees of sociological, cultural, political, and environmental empowerment compared to long-term residents. In contrast, no significant differences were found in empowerment based on gender or employment within ecotourism.