Wine Tourism, Cultural Landscapes and Heritage in Macaronesian Islands: A Comparative Analysis of the Canary Islands (Spain) and Fogo (Cabo Verde) Through the Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC)

Abstract

Wine tourism has emerged as a potential strategy for diversifying tourism activity and enhancing the value of agricultural landscapes, local production, and cultural heritage, particularly in island destinations. This study comparatively analyses the development, sustainability, and strategic role of wine tourism in the Canary Islands and Fogo (Cabo Verde), two Atlantic island contexts with contrasting tourism trajectories. The study was conducted between April and September 2026. A comparative case-study design based on scientific literature, institutional and technical documentation, and secondary data was applied, using Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) as an interpretative framework. The results reveal two differentiated trajectories. In the Canary Islands, wine tourism operates within a mature international tourism destination but remains a developing-to-consolidating product, contributing to diversification and potential qualitative rejuvenation through volcanic wine landscapes, heritage, gastronomy, and local production. In Fogo, wine tourism remains emerging and is closely connected to Chã das Caldeiras, community-based structures, local wine production, and the volcanic landscape, potentially contributing to the structuring of small-scale local tourism development. The findings suggest that destination maturity and tourism-product development do not necessarily evolve simultaneously. Wine tourism may therefore perform different strategic functions according to the evolutionary context of the destination, reinforcing the importance of territorially adapted approaches to sustainable tourism development.