Women Empowering Through Tourism Awareness Groups in Enhancing Local Economic Participation: A Case Study in Womom Village, Tubow District, Tambrauw, Southwest Papua

The purpose of this study is to examine how the Tourism Awareness Group (Pokdarwis) empowers women in Womom Village, Tubouw District, Tambrauw Regency, Southwest Papua, to increase local economic participation. This study employs an exploratory descriptive method in conjunction with a qualitative approach. In-depth interviews, observations, and documentation of Pokdarwis members, local business actors, community leaders, and local government were used to gather data. The study's findings demonstrate that, despite their limited participation in strategic decision-making, women actively engage in tourism operational activities, particularly in the culinary, homestay, and tourism service sectors. Government legislation, family support, and the possibility for local tourism are all variables that favor empowerment; patriarchal culture, a lack of human resources, and financial access are the main barriers. Increasing household income, altering social roles, and boosting women's self-esteem and social standing are all benefits of empowering women. Additionally, this study demonstrates how the local sociocultural framework influences and contextualizes the process of empowering women in underdeveloped, frontier, and outermost (3T) regions. These results highlight the significance of comprehensive empowerment methods through capacity training, bolstering Pokdarwis' institutional structure, and providing inclusive and long-lasting policy support. In the context of tourist sites in Indonesia's 3T regions, this study advances women's empowerment and community-based tourism studies.