Fonte: ROTUR. Revista de Ocio y Turismo; Vol. 15 No. 2 (2021); 45-60
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Resumo: Feminist movements highlight the presence of gender inequalities in our society. The tourism sector, while an important source of female employment, is not exempt from these inequalities. This article is an attempt to rectify the scarcity of tourism research from a gender perspective in Spain. The study combines the concept of ‘emptied Spain’, represented in this analysis by the province of Teruel, and the use of tourism for the promotion of female empowerment and the reduction of gender inequalities. The main aim of the study is to analyse female entrepreneurship in the tourism sector in unpopulated areas and its effects on local development and individual and collective female empowerment. The research uses a qualitative methodology, consisting of interviews with rural women in the province of Teruel. The results reveal a contrast between the invisibility of the role of rural women in the past, and their new identity as entrepreneurs of sustainable tourism businesses that bring income and other benefits to the local community and region. Entrepreneurship and the creation of associations have been key in this process of individual and collective empowerment. The article concludes with a call for greater implementation of public and private policies for the creation of tourism companies managed by women as a way of tackling rural depopulation and generating sustainable local development.
