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FOGO
ISLAND INN
RETHINKING COMMUNITY
CONNECTIONS
Zita Cobb is an unlikely innkeeper. Having
grown up on Fogo Island, a rugged outcropping
off the coast of Newfoundland, she left the
small fishing community for the Canadian
mainland shortly after high school. After a
long and successful career in the tech industry,
Zita returned to Fogo in the early 2000s, along
with her two brothers, to create Shorefast, a
radical community initiative conceived to
bring cultural and economic resiliency to the
rural island.
Today, Shorefast’s portfolio of socially
minded businesses have revitalized Fogo,
breathing new life into the island’s traditional
industries as well as creating economic
opportunities for residents. At the center of
Shorefast’s efforts is Fogo Island Inn. Built
in 2013 with a combination of philanthropic
funds and government grants, the inn is the
organization’s economic engine, a flagship
operation that churns 100% of its profits back
into local projects and programs.
By all accounts, Fogo Island Inn is a
resounding success, quickly gaining an
international reputation for its one-of-a-
kind setting, exceptional hospitality and
socially minded business model. Guests find
themselves drawn not only to the island’s
unspoiled wilderness and long-standing
traditions, but also to Shorefast’s innovative
projects. “Increasingly, luxury travelers
are becoming informed champions for
meaningful regenerative practices across the
globe,” says Zita. And while this is indeed true,
projects such as Fogo Island Inn deserve credit
for showing us the way.
SPRING | 2019
“WE EXIST IN RELATION TO THE WHOLE: THE WHOLE PLANET,
THE WHOLE OF HUMANITY, THE WHOLE OF EXISTENCE. IT IS
OUR JOB TO FIND WAYS TO BELONG TO THE WHOLE WHILE
UPHOLDING THE SPECIFICITY OF PEOPLE AND PLACE.”
ZITA COBB,
INNKEEPER FOGO ISLAND INN
PHOTOS
TOP: FOGO
ISLAND INN
EXTERIOR
BOTTOM:
FOGO ISLAND
INN SUITE
C O N TACT YO U R T R AV E L A DV I S O R TO DAY