Female tourism entrepreneurs in Bali, Indonesia

Bali is one of the most popular islands in Indonesia for tourism due to its beaches, nightlife and religious sites. Female tourism entrepreneurs are a growing segment of the hospitality industry in Bali due to their involvement in food stalls and small restaurants. This paper will focus on the strategic decisions of female Balinese tourism entrepreneurs by utilizing a purposeful sampling method in which in-depth interviews were carried out over a six-month period. Meaning units (MUs) were abstracted, which were compared and discussed with the interviewees until a basic agreement of terms could be made. Using in depth interviews and other supplemental evidence, this trend was examined in order to explore how women were influenced by environmental factors, in additional to their culture and heritage. The findings from this paper will help other tourism entrepreneurs how to develop their businesses using limited resources and financial capital but also provide suggestions about how female entrepreneurs can succeed in the globally competitive tourism industry.