Abstract
This chapter introduces a practical application of the first Sustainable Development Goal, which is “Tourism Contribution to End Poverty.” It provides a recent literature review about the theme and presents the case study of Cape Verde. Cape Verde is an archipelago with enormous tourist potential, but, on the other hand, it is a country that must deal with the poverty problem. So, it is a destination that needs to work on its sustainability, mainly to provide residents with better living conditions. It is urgent to study the main poverty challenges in Cape Verde in order to provide the right strategies. It is essential, also, to understand if tourism can help fighting local poverty. To achieve some conclusions, authors have done interviews with some local institutions as well as to several stakeholders to understand better the main issues concerning tourism challenges and its potential to deal with poverty in Cape Verde.
TopIntroduction
Cape Verde is a small archipelago located in Africa that has been facing since its independence numerous vulnerabilities which may arise from different aspects, such as reduced dimension, limited domestic resource base, distance to major markets and geographic isolation, limited institutional capacity, openness to international markets and instable external flows. All these constraints, which are typical to small island development state (SIDS), have imposed several challenges to various national governments over the years.
Cape Verde is a country with an economic system that has never been based on its richness in natural resources. Cape Verde has unequivocally been able enhancing the human resources at its disposal, exploring its privileged geographical location, deepening its regional and world economic integration, capitalising on infrastructure investments (mainly tourism) benefiting from political stability and security.
To achieve new development and growth paths and to try to control population poverty (a major problem in this country), tourism has been elected as the main economic instrument. As a matter of fact, tourism has consolidated its importance since its independence and has become a resilient economic activity with huge importance. So, it is easy to understand why tourism has been elected as a strategic instrument not only as a strategic activity but also as a valuable instrument to fight poverty.
Despite the fact that, in the last years, Cape Verde achieved some remarkable economic as well as social improvements, several islands still face one considerable and undesirable social problem due to the existence of poverty focus among its population. This is a calamity that the Millennium Report has been trying to eradicate with SDG1. Under this context, this chapter aims at answering the following questions:
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How important is sustainability in the resolution of poverty in Cape Verde?
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What are the main poverty challenges in Cape Verde?
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How is Cape Verde dealing with this reality and what is the importance of Tourism in this strategy?
To answer these questions, this chapter is divided into four sections. In the first one, we present a theoretical discussion about sustainability and poverty. In the second section, we analyse the country performance. In section three, we present the methodology adopted to achieve the conclusions, and in the final section we reflect on the main results and future challenges for key players.
TopTheoretical Framework
The SDG chosen in this chapter was the first one that is related to tourism contribution to ending poverty. This SDG focus on complete eradication of poverty by 2030, so, it represents a huge challenge. We must be aware that poverty is a multidimensional concept, and because of that it is extremely difficult to manage. The big question on this topic is if tourism can help to end poverty in all its forms and everywhere. Although tourism has been considered for some years as a way of alleviating poverty, it is necessary to understand whether tourism is indeed strong enough to end poverty and improve the quality of life of over one billion people living in poverty around the world (Scheyvens & Hughes, 2019). Within the context of theoretical context, authors will present topics such as the Sustainable Development Goals, the relationship between tourism, poverty alleviation and the concept of community-based tourism.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Gross Domestic Product (GDP): Is the most commonly used measure of economic activity to track the health of a nation’s economy. It represents the value of all goods and services produced over a specific time period within a country’s borders.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): They are 17 goals that were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, and they are expected to be achieved by 2030.
Small Island Developing States (SIDS): Distinct group of developing countries facing specific social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities.
Destination Marketing Organisation (DMO): They are not-for-profit organisations that help to promote and market local attractions, accommodation options, tourism services and related sectors.
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): Some Development Goals that United Nations defined and that the 191 UN member states have agreed to try to achieve by the year 2015. The United Nations Millennium Declaration, signed in September 2000, commits world leaders to combat poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women.
Community-Based Tourism (CBT): Is tourism in which local residents (often rural, poor and economically marginalised) invite tourists to visit their communities with the provision of overnight accommodation.