Perspectives for a community-driven tourism in Cape Verde

Abstract

In developing countries, most of the time, tourism is characterised by an exogenous variable. Instead of reducing social issues, not only does this characteristic feature increase them but it also has negative repercussions on a cultural level and on the environment, with complete disregard for the key principles of sustainable development. Local communities are not usually able to interpret the potential for tourism development since they do not share common core needs with it. Consequently, the underlying needs of international tourism flows are neither interpreted nor understood. In this paper, the proposed strategy is community‑based tourism. Its core can be found in the integral mapping and management of every single component of Cape Verdean tourism that is given in the most interesting areas in terms of environment, landscape, and culture on the island. The development of identifying social and cultural traits plays a fundamental role when considering the balance between the tourist’s needs and expectations, and the needs of the host population.