Gender-inclusive governance for sustainable and resilient urban tourism in West Africa

In West Africa, climate change, urbanisation, and the impact of Covid-19 have increasingly challenged urban tourism. Such a scenario requires the need for resilient governance systems. The present research investigates the role of gender-inclusive governance in achieving resilient urban tourism by establishing the Gendered Urban Tourism Resilience Model (GUTRM). The theoretical framework included the Gender and Development (GAD) perspective, resilience theory, and the urban tourism sustainability transition framework. The research employed a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data were collected from 384 tourism stakeholders in Accra, Lagos, Abidjan, and Dakar and analysed through structural equation modelling using AMOS, along with qualitative interviews with 40 stakeholders using thematic analysis. Findings reveal that gender-sensitive governance significantly strengthens inclusive governance, stakeholder engagement, and social capital creation, which in turn improve urban tourism sustainability and resilience after the pandemic. The study revealed a difference in the level of resilience across all four cities studied, which is attributed to varying levels of institutional capacity and governance efficiency. From a theoretical perspective, the findings have contributed to the field of tourism resilience research, as the gendered urban tourism resilience model developed in the theoretical part of the research has been tested in practice. From a practical perspective, the results of the research can provide useful insights to different actors, such as the government, municipal organisations, and tourism businesses.