Africa-Press – Angola. The long weekend, due to the April 4th holiday, the date of the 21st anniversary of peace in Angola, attracted many outsiders to Benguela province, for sun and beach tourism.
The frenetic movement of tourists in the main hotels in the cities of Lobito, Catumbela, Benguela and Baía Farta began last week and the occupancy rate was around 90 percent.
Coming mostly from Luanda, visitors, also attracted by the peace festivities, combined with the hospitality of the population, arrive in Benguela by road or air, encouraging tourism and hotels.
Among the most popular hotels are Terminus and Restinga (Lobito), Colina das Estrelas (Catumbela), Praia Morena, Mombaka, Luso, Aparthotel Mil Cidades (Benguela), while in Baía Farta the highlight is the Lodge CV tourist complex, where the main attraction is a safari.
At the same time, the sunny beaches of Restinga, Morena, Santo António, Caota and Baía Azul attracted outsiders, who also took the opportunity to taste typical dishes in the restaurants along the seafront of Benguela.
By the way, the person in charge of the commercial area of Hotel Praia Morena, Albertina Kusilula, said that the occupancy rate had increased from 66 to 90 percent, because there were many requests for accommodation, at prices ranging from 21,000 kwanzas.
According to her, the three-star unit – which has 124 rooms of different types – is the preference of many guests, on long weekends, especially from Luanda, Huambo, Lubango, Namibe and some Portuguese tourists.
With regard to gastronomy, he indicated that the hotel includes national dishes, such as calulu and mufete on its menu.
Also the Hotel Mombaka, where only half of the 120 rooms are in operation, is registering an occupancy rate of 98 percent, according to an employee of the reception area, who requested anonymity.
According to the source, the movement of foreign tourists is acceptable, especially Brazilians, Cape Verdeans, Portuguese and Chinese.
In the heart of the city of Benguela, the Aparthotel Mil Cidades, with 60 apartments available between T1, T2 and T3, is in the sights of many tourists, especially those who appreciate Indian cuisine.
Ângelo Mahina, from the accommodation department at Mil Cidades, reveals that the occupancy rate was 80 percent during the weekend, due to some parties held in various parts of Benguela
With regard to Hotel Luso, its head of reception, Paulo Gomes, assumes that demand is so great that the occupancy rate has been 100 percent since Wednesday of last week.
“All 32 rooms are occupied”, he adds, revealing that, given the high demand, the hotel plans to build more rooms to meet the demand.
Tourists surrendered to Benguela
Coming from Luanda, Manuel Tandala visits the city of Acácias Rubras for the sixth time this year and talks about his “passion” for the homeland of musician Matias Damásio.
Tandala says that the climate, cuisine and parties in Benguela make him feel as if he were in Luanda.
Therefore, Manuel Tandala assumes that Benguela is his favorite destination, because, as he believes, it has everything a tourist needs, namely sun and beach to recharge energies.
The same opinion has the citizen Luísa Fernando, who justified the choice of Benguela to enjoy the holiday of the day of peace for the mild climate and tranquility.
“I really like being in Benguela because of the tranquility that the province has. In Luanda, there is always the hustle and bustle of everyday life and a lot of confusion in taxis ”, he concluded.
Janilson Araújo is a Brazilian tourist interested in discovering the cultural potential of Benguela, mainly Dombe Grande and Lobito.
He confesses to press that he was strongly attracted by the beautiful landscape of Benguela, the beaches and the good cuisine, where calulu, dried fish and mufete stand out.
“We took the opportunity to bring the family to enjoy Morena, Santo António and Baía Azul beaches”, he said, admitting that the city of Benguela is getting better every day in terms of infrastructure, including hotels.
“The population of Benguela is very welcoming. Every time I come I am positively surprised”, she concluded.
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