By EXPRESSO DAS ILHAS
Africa-Press – Cape verde. Cape Verde continues to work to diversify its tourism offer and has looked to Spain as one of the growing source markets in recent years, said the president of the Cape Verde Tourism Institute (ITCV).
Humberto Lélis made this statement today to Inforpress, in Madrid, during the International Tourism Fair (FITUR) in the Spanish capital, which runs until Sunday, the 28th, with Ecuador as the guest country and the participation of more than 130 countries.
“Until recently, Spain was not even considered a referenced destination in tourism statistics for Cape Verde. Before, in a very residual way, but from 2022 and 2023 we will witness a very good dynamic in demand from the Spanish market in relation to the Cape Verde destination. This clearly responds to the challenges of part of the Government’s policy, which has tourism diversification as one of its essential axes, both on the supply and demand sides”, he explained.
According to Humberto Lélis, traditionally, in the summer season, even before the covid-19 pandemic, hotels in the country had a medium-low occupancy, but from 2022 onwards there has been an increase in demand for Cape Verde during this time of year. , having reached peak demand in 2023, in August.
The Spanish market, continued the same source, was one of those that responded “clearly” in relation to the approaches made to operators, the articulations made between the national business sector and Spain, which today is the market that has been supplying “to a large extent” the problem of seasonality in demand.
“This is important from an economic and social perspective, because during the summer period some hotels discontinued part of their employment contracts, something that has not happened since 2022”, he highlighted.
For these reasons, Humberto Lélis said that in one of the meetings, in this case with an operator who started operations in Cape Verde in 2023, without disclosing the name, they assured that it was a “successful” year and will continue this year.
However, the approach that the country has taken with this operator is to not only focus on sun and beach tourism, but also to evaluate the possibility of offering other offers, especially with regard to nature tourism.
“But these are issues that we are faced with and require stronger engagement on the side of Cape Verde and ITCV itself, especially to improve the instruments of the tourism brand and in participating in the effort to promote the country, having an impact on the country’s economic dynamics”, admitted.
At FITUR, Cape Verde will have its stand until the last day of the event, Sunday, 28th, with eight national tour operators in areas such as restaurants, rent-a-car and accommodation, but the Minister of Tourism and Transport, Calos Santos , which has been present since opening, the 24th, until Friday, the 26th.
This 40th edition of FITUR, an event promoted by the World Tourism Organization (WTO), based in Madrid, welcomes tourism professionals and those interested in learning about the latest trends in the sector, as well as the general public interested in discovering the destinations on offer .
EXPRESSO DAS ILHAS
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