Abstract
Tourism along Kenya’s coast has transformed from colonial leisure pursuits into a central pillar of national and devolved development plans. While foreign investment built the region’s early resort economy, recent state intervention has deepened tourism’s role in shaping local livelihoods. Yet, these developments expose coastal communities, especially women, who form the majority of the tourism workforce, to new vulnerabilities in the face of climate change and gendered risks in ocean governance.
This study argues that climate adaptation in coastal tourism is inherently relational and political, shaped by power asymmetries and competing priorities within the ocean economy. Drawing on feminist political ecology, it examines how adaptation processes often neglect gender responsiveness and marginalize local agency.
The analysis proceeds in three main stages: a literature review that highlights disciplinary silos in addressing gender and climate change within tourism research; participatory photovoicing workshops with coastal women that foreground lived experiences and non-economic losses; and mental modeling that reveals stark contrasts between policymakers’ and practitioners’ perceptions of climate risks for tourism. Across these cases, exclusion of grassroots voices and tokenistic participation undermine equitable adaptation.
By situating Kenya’s coastal tourism within debates on climate justice, the study demonstrates the urgency of re-centering local and gendered perspectives in shaping sustainable and inclusive futures for the sector, and for coastal economies.