ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors present an overview of women in tourism and the definitions and theoretical approaches to empowerment. Empowerment for women who face economic problems, self-care or responsibility for maintenance of their children is equal to income. The authors aim to use interviews conducted by women active in the field of tourism to indicate problems in their personal lives and self-employment. They present policy recommendations to empower and improve the status of Iranian women in the field of tourism. Tourism provides better opportunities for women's participation in the workforce, women's entrepreneurship and women's leadership than other sectors of the economy. The opportunity structure and barriers in the environment of the tourism industry in Iran provides a context to women's roles, limitations and barriers. The restrictions for women in the tourism industry can be divided into two categories: obstacles facing domestic female tourists and obstacles facing tourism workers.
