The involvement of residents as essential stakeholders in tourism destinations is crucial. Different authors indicate that the residents’ perceptions are important for tourism development. In this sense, this research aimed to identify the residents’ perceptions towards tourism effects on the Island of Sal, Cape Verde, Africa. From January to February 2024, a survey was conducted, sending a link with a questionnaire to residents aged 18 and above. Thus, a convenience sample with 210 valid responses was collected, and a descriptive analysis was conducted in the first step. The second step was an inferential analysis aiming to determine variances based on whether being a native of the island, tourism dependence, gender, and the perceived effects of tourism. According to the t-Student test, the hypothesis associating dependence on tourism with economic effects was validated. The remaining hypotheses did not have significant differences, indicating that the native and gender do not affect the effects of perceptions. This study has some aspects that differ from previous studies on the same issue. However, it highlights the importance of tourism for the Island of Sal and indicates planning strategies for policymakers in the territory. Finally, the study’s limitation is the number of samples. For future studies, increasing the number of questionnaires applied is suggested.