The purpose of this project is to analyze colonial legacies present in community-engagement tourism (CET) in Puerto Rico. Though the main objective of CET is often understood as empowering local communities through tourism, the inherent colonial power structures often undermine this goal. Because colonialism is a persistent phenomenon in Puerto Rico, a colonial framework exposes colonialism’s intricate and enduring legacy, especially as it manifests through CET and impacts local populations. Through the analysis of a Puerto Rican case study, this research will highlight the emergence of potential colonial legacies through CET. Analyzing colonial legacies through community-engagement tourism in Puerto Rico is significant for tourism geography as tourism continues to shift and adapt in Latin America. Because of colonialism’s complicated nature, it is difficult to propose solutions that adapt to every context within Latin America’s tourism industry.
