Cultural Revitalization and Economic Empowerment: a Community?Based Tourism Initiative on Fogo Island in Cape Verde

Community-based tourism represents a grassroots approach to tourism development. This model aims to involve actively the local community in the design and management of tourism, in a way to provide them with direct economic benefits. This thesis presents three community-based tourism ideas for the island of Fogo, in the archipelago of Cape Verde, aimed at creating a bottom-up approach to tourism development by means of strengthening rural economy, promoting education opportunities for residents and tourists, enhancing community participation in the management of their territory and cultural heritage conservation. The project ideas presented in this research (namely, a community museum, a community scattered hotel, and an arts and crafts center) were developed on the basis of a thematic analysis of a total of six interviews conducted with local stakeholders in the field of tourism and development. More precisely, they involved three NGO representatives, two business owners, and an educator. Their experiences, perspectives, and ideas were incorporated into each project plan, to combine cultural conservation and local economic development in an offer that could be directed to both tourists and residents. Despite its limitations, this thesis contributes to the research on the integration of community-based tourism and heritage conservation in Cape Verde and serves as a valuable starting point for the implementation of local development projects by local associations in Fogo.