Tipos de turistas e percepções de sustentabilidade. O caso da Ilha de Santo Antão - Cabo Verde

Mestrado em Engenharia Agronómica - Instituto Superior de AgronomiaEcotourism is being promoted as an alternative to the massive tourism. It is considered an important instrument, necessary for the environmental conservation and for the improvement of the well-being of local communities. Projects for ecotourism are being implemented around the world, and the application of this approach is focused mainly in developing countries due to their specific natural sites and biodiversity. Sustainability is a central objective of the socio-economic and environmental ecotourism, which has a high importance for the harmonious and equilibrated development of the tourist sector, with the participation of local communities and ecotourists. Cape Verde has specific natural characteristics, but especially due to its climate, peace, political stability and the “morabeza” - hospitality of its people, the country has a potential for the ecotourism that can add more value to its economy. Based on the information collected from an inquiry made to 80 tourists who visited Santo Antão Island - Cabo Verde in 2008, focusing on their motivations for preference to the nature, their practices, activities and demographic characteristics, the study outline a typology of the tourists. An assessment is made on existing differences in terms of perceptions and commitment of ecotourists among other type of tourists, concerning to ecological, economical and socio cultural sustainability of tourism