Imperialism, empowerment, and support for sustainable tourism: Can residents become empowered through an imperialistic tourism development model?

Abstract

Resident empowerment is an effective tool that contributes to the sustainable development of tourism. However, in many low-income countries, tourism is usually implemented through an imperialist tourism development model, questioning the sector's true intentions for this type of development. Within this backdrop, this study aims to investigate how, under such conditions, residents' perception of imperialism is associated with residents' perceptions of empowerment and to what extent these perceptions influence their support for sustainable tourism development. To better understand these relationships, Weber's Theory of Formal Substantive Rationality and Institutional Theory were employed. This study surveyed a representative sample of 341 residents on the island of Sal, Cape Verde in 2022. Overall, results illustrate that residents' perceptions of imperialism do not affect their perceptions of empowerment, rejecting most of the research hypotheses. Theoretical and practical implications highlight that within an imperialistic tourism development model, there is not relationship between imperialims and empowerment. tourism.