Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5 through Peer-to-Peer Accommodation: Empirical Evidence from Kaziranga National Park, India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66635/mbvhvz16Keywords:
Peer-to-Peer Accommodation, Sustainable Development Goal 5, Gender Equality, Women EmpowermentAbstract
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 5, briefly termed as SDG 5, exclusively focuses on gender. It emphasises “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”. This study investigates how participation of women in Peer-to-Peer accommodation contributes to the fulfilment of Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality) in ecologically sensitive destinations such as Kaziranga National Park (KNP). KNP is a UNESCO World Heritage site, renowned worldwide for its one-horned rhinoceroses, yet it faces increasing tourism pressure, and very minimal research is being conducted about how women’s participation in Peer-to-Peer accommodation contributes to gender equality. The results indicate that Peer-to-Peer accommodation acts as an entry point for women to directly participate in tourism activities, providing them a platform to transition from wage dependency to entrepreneurship, leading to community governance, cultural custodianship and integrating sustainable practices. Most peer-to-peer accommodations are home-based units, thus allowing women to host from home while balancing family responsibilities. Peer- to- peer accommodation in Kaziranga illustrates the potential convergence of local agency and global development goals, which contributes not only to the achievement of SDG 5 but also to the broader vision of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
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