This study contributes to understandings of cultural economic geography and economic development from a feminist perspective by querying how gender roles are constructed within ecotourism and influence ecotourism practice in Ecuador. Exploring how gender roles are negotiated in everyday life is one avenue one may use to understand how power and influence are manifest in ecotourism, a multibillion dollar global industry that relies on personal interaction in localities around the world.
To know how local gender relationships influence ecotourism this study explores gender roles at ecolodges in Ecuador from three different approaches. The first approach explores ecolodge managers' ideologies about the gender of labor at ecolodges. The second approach explores how interaction between local gendered labor norms and managers' gender ideologies affects daily routines at ecolodges. The final approach considers how managers' gender ideologies and local gendered labor norms affect tourists' experiences at ecolodges.
Therefore, the construction of gender in ecolodges needs to be addressed for the following reasons: to demonstrate that diversity in construction of gender exists in ecotourism developments, to see whether it is possible for ecotourism to be largely positive and empowering for poor rural communities, and to develop practical recommendations for ecotourism managers to inform their management strategies.