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Paper short abstract:

Tourism is using unsustainable amounts of water to the detriment of communities. The price of water is beyond the reach of some and pushes others into exploitative paid work. Based on fieldwork in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia I explore the unsustainable and disempowering aspects of tourism development.

Paper long abstract:

"According to the UNWTO tourism can empower women in multiple ways, particularly through the provision of jobs and through income-generating opportunities in small and larger-scale tourism… enterprises. And, that "…tourism can be a tool for women to unlock their potential … and thus contribute to SDG 5 "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls" (UNWTO 2015). They also claim "tourism can play a critical role in achieving water access and security, as well as hygiene and sanitation for all…. safeguarding our most precious resource" (SDG 6.) Do the realities on the ground match this rhetoric?

Based on intensive fieldwork in Labuan Bajo, Flores, Indonesia including over 100 interviews and a multi-stakeholder meeting in April and July 2015 this paper explores how the development of tourism far from being sustainable and empowering delivers the reverse for many of the women in Labuan Bajo.

Tourism development is competing for water supplies with the local residents. The wages from tourism jobs do not cover the cost of living when water has to be purchased. Tourism development has dramatically increased the cost of living and the cost of water in particular, driving women into exploitative paid work and doubling their burdens as they continue to be responsible for all domestic and water work. For some, water procurement prevents them for participating in work outside the home reinforcing gendered divisions. Rather than empowering women, tourism is placing restrictions on women and their and careers due to water procurement problems.