Stakeholders' perceptions of tourism development in Cape Verde, Africa

Abstract

The perceptions of tourism stakeholders regarding the effects of tourism development in their communities are essential in ensuring the proper design and implementation of sustainable tourism development strategies in an area. We designed a survey to gather data about the attitudes of three stakeholders: tourists, residents, and business owners. The respondents were from the island of Sao Vicente in the African archipelago of Cape Verde, which is currently under expansion. The results showed that the three groups positively view increased tourism development in the area, with virtually no differences found between business owners and the other groups, although tourists had a more favourable opinion than residents. Engaging the three groups is essential for the success of tourism development.

Keywords:

• stakeholder
• tourism development
• residents
• tourists
• business owners
• Cape Verde

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank both the AECID and the inhabitants of the Cape Verde archipelago.

Additional information

Funding

The findings of this article were drawn from research funded by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECID) through projects PCI-A/023083/09 and A/032748/10.