The history of tourism in Cape Verde
Tourism has played a huge part in the achievements of The Resort Group PLC in the ten years since it started operations on the Islands of Cape Verde. Every year, it seems the statistics have risen, with tourists paying more attention to the colourful and culture-rich archipelago off the west coast of Africa. It has been quite the story with tourism numbers increasing 115% since 2000, but popular though it is today, Cape Verde has been rising steadily to the hot holiday destination we know it as today.
The 1970s saw the first boom, with well-travelled visitors particularly attracted to the undiscovered feel that the Islands still boast in 2017. This slowly rose over the years, but it is far to say that the real increase came in the last two decades. As recently as the year 2000, tourism contributed $41 million to the country’s economy and 2.0% to the GDP – by the next year, it had risen to 6.8% with 115,000 tourists visiting the Islands. Fast-forward a few years and according to estimates, during the first half of 2010, tourism grew considerably along with the economy, while the share of public investment in the Cape Verde GDP had reached more than 10% in 2009.
The Resort Group PLC had opened its first Resort on Sal in 2011 and tourism to the Island was rising all the time, so much so that by 2016, the number of visitors had reached 644,000 – a clear sign of the ongoing boom on the exotic archipelago. Most of the international arrivals came from Europe and they still do – specifically, the United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Portugal and Italy, whilst less than one percent of tourists come from the USA.
The Resort Group PLC’s first two developments, MELIÃ Tortuga Beach Resort and MELIÃ Dunas Beach Resort & Spa, collectively attracted over a million tourists and multiple industry awards in the years between 2011 and 2015, and this shows no sign of slowing down. Especially given the agreement with a leading travel company just last year, guaranteeing strong returns for years to come. The agreement means that approximately one million guests are expected by the end of 2019, positive news for The Resort Group PLC’s property buyers.
In fact, with the tourism boom set to continue into the next few years and beyond, now could not be a more perfect time to invest in a Cape Verde Resort property. To find out more about investment opportunities and how the increase in visitors has a positive impact on returns, get in touch with the team today via the contact page.