Parts of Cape Verde have been hit with a crime wave as tourists have been attacked and mugged.
The Foreign Office is also advising tourists about an increase in burglaries on the two most popular holiday island destinations of Sal and Boa Vista.
The islands off the coast of Africa are being touted as a “safe” destination by tour operators.
But UK tourists are being warned they face violent muggers or sexual predators and holidaymakers are being told to ‘remain alert at all times’.
UK tourists are being warned about visiting top new holiday destination Cape Verde after a several robberies and sexual attacks.
The islands are also very popular with honeymooners but latest UK NHS Health advice says it has “high risk” of Zika and is warning couples not to get pregnant during their visit or for TWO months afterwards.
The holiday destination has become the centre of a crime wave with tourists being attacked and mugged leading to the Foreign Office to put out a warning.
Inspite of the publicity given about Cape Verde by tour operators,it is still a poor country with visible poverty all round.
Tourists, with all their money and high value gadgets are seen as easy prey. There are a string of dangers lying in wait.
As well as sex attacks the Foreign Office is also advising tourists about an increase in burglaries on the two most popular holiday island destinations of Sal and Boa Vista, which are promoted as safe destinations by tour operators for families and couples as tourists flee traditional European destinations such as France and Greece for fear of terrorism.
Instead of facing a terror attacks, tourists could face violent robberies or rape and official advice to UK citizens is to remain alert at all times.
Cape Verde hotels have also suffered from food poisoning and illness such as Salmonella; which can leave people with life-long complications.
We have seen a rise in couples falling ill and also honeymooners. Just because it looks great on the brochure doesn’t mean it will always live up to this in reality.
Latest figures from the National Statistics Institute revealed Cape Verde has become popular with Britons.
The majority of tourists visiting the islands are now from the UK and the islands saw a 13.6 rise in visitor numbers in 2016 compared to the previous year.
But with this new found popularity comes a dark underbelly and the Foreign Office has updated its travel advice pages to reflect this ongoing crime wave on the Archipelago.
There has been a significant increase in crime in Praia, as well as an increase in burglaries and violent muggings on the main tourist islands of Sal and Boa Vista.”
The pages also warned of spate of sexual assaults and warned tourists to “take precautions" when walking on the popular tourist beaches of Prai De Estoril , Prai de Chaves and Santa Monica.
In 2007 the dunes on the popular island of Sal were the site of a horrific double rape and murder of two Italian female tourists.
They were raped and killed by two local men.
The Foreign Office is also warning tourists to avoid gangs of children without adults who are known to be pickpockets and purse snatchers and to be wary of buying property as many Britons had run into “serious problems.”
That perfect getaway may quickly turn out to be a holiday from hell. Always check with the Foreign Office website and your tour operator before you travel. If you do get in trouble contact the nearest Embassy.
Boa Vista
Boa Vista is Portuguese meaning “good view”. This is the easternmost island of Cape Verde. It is located in the Barlavento group of the archipelago.
The island is known for marine turtles and traditional music, as well as its ultramarathon and its sand dunes and beaches. The island also constitutes the municipality of Boa Vista, which has two parishes, Santa Isabel and Sao Joao Baptista.
With an area of 620 square kilometres (240 square miles), it is the third largest island, after Santo Antao and Santiago. It is 455 kilometres (283 miles) west of the coast of Africa. Much of the island is flat. The highest point on the island is Monte Estancia, elevation 387 metres (1,270 feet); other mountains include Santo António (Saint Anthony), Rocha Estância, Monte Negro (Black Mountain), Monte Caçador, Pico Forcado and Monte Vigia.
Other features include Campo da Serra. Its main town is Sal Rei, its ferry port and home to Boa Vista's airport (Rabil Airport)on the northwest side of the island.
Surrounding islets include Ilheu de Sal Rei featuring a lighthouse in the west, others include Ilhéu de Curral Velho in the south and Ilheu do Baluarte featuring the easternmost point in Cape Verde, they are one of five islands that have a surrounding islet or more in Cape Verde. Points include Ponta Antonia to the north as well as Ponta do Sol and Ponta Varandinha, the island's westernmost point.
The island has the most number of long beaches in the nation but not overall, they include Atalanta, Cabral, Chave, Ervatao, Gatas, Santa Monica and Varandinha.
Its economy was originally based on agriculture, but desertification led to salt collection becoming more important. Its main industries today are date farming and, increasingly, tourism, with already several touristic establishments being built in recent times. As of July 2015, the island boasts the highest income per capita [i.e., US$8819,00] in the island nation.
Boa Vista has a college (colegio), a middle school, high school, churches, beaches, large hotels and a port which underwent expansion in the early to mid 2010s. Other hotels and villas had popped up in the west and south of the island, hotels and villas popped up in around 2004 west of Rabil and in 2009 in Curral Velho and connected them with newly paved roads.
Sal Island
Sal,Portuguese for salt from the mines at Pedra de Lume, is an island in Cape Verde. It belongs to the northern group of islands, called Barlavento or windwards, and comprises a single administrative division, the Sal municipality. The island is home to Amílcar Cabral International Airport, the main airport of Cape Verde.
The island was discovered on December 3, 1460 and named Llana until salt deposits were found at the end of the 18th century in Pedra de Lume. In the early years, slaves grazed parts of the island, in the 17th century, free settlers took salt. Sal is the geologically oldest island in Cape Verde, formed 50 million years ago during the eruption of a volcano which is now inactive.
Salt activity was not active until 1800. Sal at the time was the leastly populated island in Cape Verde, once had around or the same as Santa Luzia. Santa Maria was founded in the south in 1835 by Manuel António Martins who became governor and became the island capital, the salt industry thrived, in its early years 30,000 tons of salt were exported.
Most of the salt was exported to Brazil until its nationalization in 1887, Portuguese and French salt investors resumed salt production until 1984. Three lighthouses were constructed at the island's extreme points in the 1880s.
An airport first constructed by Italy started construction in 1939 to receive flights to Europe and South America, construction was halted in around 1940 during World War II and continuation ceased, the Portuguese bought the airport from the Italians and finished the rest in 1949, planes from Italy would offer a stopover flight for refueling planes for flights with South American cities.
Northeast of the airport, workers from Sao Nicolau Island to the west would settle a village and was named Preguiça, where the first settlers originated and the youngest urban center in Cape Verde, Palmeira was later founded and became the island's other port, not long after it became Espargos due to the asparagus plants founded there and became the main island capital as well as a commercial center, a part of the population growth even to the present continue to arrive from Sao Nicolau.
Unlike other parts of Cape Verde, famine did not devastate the island as the population was only about 500 in 1930 and one of some islands up to 1970 that the population continued to grow. Farmlands were established around 2 km northwest of Espargos in the mid 20th century.
A new solar electricity station was established in around 2010 and located 1.5 km north of Santa Maria on the main road, the first and only in Cape Verde. A large growing population has now led to the division of the municipality, it was first plan on April 7, 2014, no date of the separation has been set.
It would form the municipalities of Espargos and Santa Maria, the municipal boundary would be marked north of Ilheu Rabe de Junco, north of Murdeira and south of the airport, probably in the east-west line, also Nossa Senhora das Dores will exclude Santa Maria.
Hurricane Fred struck the island of Sal in late summer 2015, the hardest was on August 31, in Santa Maria, his storm surge sunk or stranded dozens of vessels and destroyed an important tourist pier.
Hotels, restaurants, and other beach facilities were flooded, and roads in the town became impassable. High winds leveled the roof of a sport center at a gymnasium which had initially been set up as a storm shelter to about 100 citizens. Elsewhere, the hurricane knocked out power to homes in Palmeira and caused minor structural damage to Sal International Airport.
Sal’s main town, Cidade dos Espargos, is home to one of the nation’s international airports and has around 32,000 inhabitants. Its population grew around salt collection and later shifted to fishing, but is now based on tourism,amounting to 50% of the archipelago’s tourism at the beach resort of Santa Maria. The living standards on the island is among the best in the Cape Verde archipelago. The island's GDP per capita is roughly US$7068,00.
Its airport, Amílcar Cabral International Airport, was used as a refuelling base by South African Airways on its Johannesburg to London routes. This was necessitated by the refusal of Black African states to the North to grant overflying permission and direct routing to and from Europe during apartheid.
Later, flights to and from New York and Atlanta also refuelled there, and the island was a crew-change station. SAA established the long runways needed by the fully fueled Boeing 747s on their take-offs in the high temperatures. On July 1, 2006, SAA operated its final flight to Sal due to the ending of its flights to Atlanta.
Saline marshes can be found in the Pedra de Lume crater and north of Santa Maria.
Tourism, Travel, Hospitality, Conservation: News,Stories And Experiences From Allover The World
Showing posts with label cape verde tourism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cape verde tourism. Show all posts
Sunday, 7 May 2017
Wednesday, 3 May 2017
CAPE VERDE: Cape Verde's Tourism Growing Rapidly
Since the beginning of this year, Cape Verde's tourism sector has been growing rapidly after a year of low revenues. The sector is a main factor behind Cape Verde's projected 6 percent GDP growth in 2010.
In 2009, Cape Verde's tourism-driven economy basically reached a stand-still. There were major concerns that the global crisis, which hit many of Cape Verde's main tourist markets especially hard, would dramatically reduce tourist arrivals to this long distance destination and halt investments in the booming hotel and holiday apartment construction industry.
Indeed, GDP growth in 2009 was reduced to 3 percent. Corrected for population growth, GDP per capita in Cape Verde thus grew by only 0.2 percent - a veritable halt in growth - according to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Cape Verdean Ministry of Finance.
During the crisis year, foreign direct investment and remittances from Cape Verdeans abroad slowed - as feared. Also revenues from the tourism industry decreased and the transportation and construction sectors contracted. Only the strong rains, providing for record harvests, managed to save a positive GDP development.
Nevertheless, the Cape Verdean tourism industry in an exemplary way managed to manoeuvre through the crisis. The industry "maintained solid growth in the number of hotel nights by slashing prices," according to an IMF analysis.
According to statistics from the Bank of Cape Verde, tourism receipts peaked in 2007 and 2008. In these two years, revenues from tourists accounted for around 22 percent of Cape Verde's GDP. In 2009 and 2010, tourism receipts are projected at only 17 percent of GDP.
But, buy reducing prices, Cape Verde managed to recruit a large number of new tourists to the archipelago during 2009 and the first half of 2010. This is now starting to pay out.
An IMF mission led by analyst Valerie Cerra, staying two weeks in Cape Verde tourist arrivals and spending
While the numbers of tourists went up during the crisis, tourists spent much less during their stay in Cape Verde
Praia, yesterday announced its new, optimistic view of developments on the archipelago. Ms Cerra concludes that Cape Verde's economy already has started on a new round of strong growth, mainly driven by the recovery of the tourism sector.
"The tourism sector stabilised in the first half of the year, and is poised for solid growth in the second half," Ms Cerra said in a statement. Government could now go on investing in "much needed infrastructure in ports and airports" to further help strengthening the tourism sector, she added.
The Fund's analysts also expect foreign investments in Cape Verde to pick up strongly this or next year. Such investments, mostly related to the tourism sector, would provide for a new round of growth for the Cape Verdean construction sector.
These optimistic outlooks related to the tourism industry are already expected to provide for a full recovery of Cape Verde's economy and GDP growth. Only in July, the IMF was still rather pessimistic about a strong growth in the Cape Verdean economy during 2010. The July projection put GDP growth this year to a modest 4.1 percent.
This weekend, however, Cape Verde's Finance Minister Cristina Duarte could reveal an upscaled growth projection for this year. Quoting an analysis by the National Statistics Institute, Ms Duarte said the national economy had already "entered a positive trend" and that GDP would grow by around 6 percent this year.
According to the Ministry and the IMF, this is only the beginning of a period with strong growth in Cape Verde. Between 2011 and 2015, the Fund expects annual growth rates of at least 6 percent and up to 8 percent. The tourism industry will remain the main motor of growth.
In 2009, Cape Verde's tourism-driven economy basically reached a stand-still. There were major concerns that the global crisis, which hit many of Cape Verde's main tourist markets especially hard, would dramatically reduce tourist arrivals to this long distance destination and halt investments in the booming hotel and holiday apartment construction industry.
Indeed, GDP growth in 2009 was reduced to 3 percent. Corrected for population growth, GDP per capita in Cape Verde thus grew by only 0.2 percent - a veritable halt in growth - according to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Cape Verdean Ministry of Finance.
During the crisis year, foreign direct investment and remittances from Cape Verdeans abroad slowed - as feared. Also revenues from the tourism industry decreased and the transportation and construction sectors contracted. Only the strong rains, providing for record harvests, managed to save a positive GDP development.
Nevertheless, the Cape Verdean tourism industry in an exemplary way managed to manoeuvre through the crisis. The industry "maintained solid growth in the number of hotel nights by slashing prices," according to an IMF analysis.
According to statistics from the Bank of Cape Verde, tourism receipts peaked in 2007 and 2008. In these two years, revenues from tourists accounted for around 22 percent of Cape Verde's GDP. In 2009 and 2010, tourism receipts are projected at only 17 percent of GDP.
But, buy reducing prices, Cape Verde managed to recruit a large number of new tourists to the archipelago during 2009 and the first half of 2010. This is now starting to pay out.
An IMF mission led by analyst Valerie Cerra, staying two weeks in Cape Verde tourist arrivals and spending
While the numbers of tourists went up during the crisis, tourists spent much less during their stay in Cape Verde
Praia, yesterday announced its new, optimistic view of developments on the archipelago. Ms Cerra concludes that Cape Verde's economy already has started on a new round of strong growth, mainly driven by the recovery of the tourism sector.
"The tourism sector stabilised in the first half of the year, and is poised for solid growth in the second half," Ms Cerra said in a statement. Government could now go on investing in "much needed infrastructure in ports and airports" to further help strengthening the tourism sector, she added.
The Fund's analysts also expect foreign investments in Cape Verde to pick up strongly this or next year. Such investments, mostly related to the tourism sector, would provide for a new round of growth for the Cape Verdean construction sector.
These optimistic outlooks related to the tourism industry are already expected to provide for a full recovery of Cape Verde's economy and GDP growth. Only in July, the IMF was still rather pessimistic about a strong growth in the Cape Verdean economy during 2010. The July projection put GDP growth this year to a modest 4.1 percent.
This weekend, however, Cape Verde's Finance Minister Cristina Duarte could reveal an upscaled growth projection for this year. Quoting an analysis by the National Statistics Institute, Ms Duarte said the national economy had already "entered a positive trend" and that GDP would grow by around 6 percent this year.
According to the Ministry and the IMF, this is only the beginning of a period with strong growth in Cape Verde. Between 2011 and 2015, the Fund expects annual growth rates of at least 6 percent and up to 8 percent. The tourism industry will remain the main motor of growth.
Saturday, 19 September 2015
CAPE VERDE: Tourism Keeps Booming
The archipelago of Cape Verde is improving its positioning as a tourist destination. According to the latest official statistics, tourist arrivals continue growing at a rate of 22 percent and it is projected that Cape Verde will reach the benchmark of 1 million tourists annually by 2015. By now, the tourism industry contributes with 10 percent into GDP.
The Cape Verdean government, in its latest cabinet meeting, especially focused on the current situation and development of the tourism sector and concluded that current trends are "extremely positive". The cabinet had been encouraged by the favourable new numbers released by the National Statistics Institute (INE), which rounded up the economic trends of the sector in the last trimester.
According to the spokeswoman of the Praia cabinet, Cristina Fontes Lima, the numbers of tourist arrivals continued to increase at an annual rate of 22 percent. INE projections had suggested that by 2015, around one million tourists would visit the archipelago annually.
"This means that the sector could start contributing with 30 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in contrast to the current 10 percent," she said, adding that "continuing the dynamic development of the sector, it could employ 53,000 people, demonstrating that there will be more economic growth and more employment."
Looking at the current level of investments in this sector, Ms Fontes Lima explained, "one understands why the government may remain optimistic regarding its growth targets." This, she said, was being "confirmed by several tour operators and, recently, in the international forum on tourism, where several experts were participating that confirmed this tendency."
The cabinet spokeswoman further revealed that in 2006 alone, Cape Verde authorities had approved of investment projects totalling US$ 300 million, "which remains a promising indicator" of economic growth. A great part of these approved investments had been in the booming tourism sector.
Ms Fontes Liman also announced policy decisions made at the cabinet meeting and passed to the Ministry of Economy. The Ministry was instructed to fast-track its works to present a strategic orientation on how to project, coordinate and plan for this boom in an adequate manner, how to diversify the tourism sector and a plan on how the different islands were to benefit from this dynamic.
For the first time, the Praia government also indicated the necessity of a popular debate surrounding the development of Cape Verde a tourist destination, having in mind the importance of the sector for the future development of the country. This, Ms Fontes Lima said, could end up in a common national vision and correcting and clarifying various disputed issues.
In particular the creation of several Zones of Integrated Tourism Development (ZDTI) had caused controversy, although only one such zone had been created since 2001. Now, as more are planned, government would include this issue in a national debate.
Planned developments indeed are far greater than current achievements. Since 1993, the state of Cape Verde has sold out lands for tourism development equivalent to around one percent of the national territory. Planned establishments on the islands of Boa Vista and Sal would occupy 15 and 17 percent of the islands' surface respectively, including landscape modelling zones and new public infrastructure.
The Cape Verdean government, in its latest cabinet meeting, especially focused on the current situation and development of the tourism sector and concluded that current trends are "extremely positive". The cabinet had been encouraged by the favourable new numbers released by the National Statistics Institute (INE), which rounded up the economic trends of the sector in the last trimester.
According to the spokeswoman of the Praia cabinet, Cristina Fontes Lima, the numbers of tourist arrivals continued to increase at an annual rate of 22 percent. INE projections had suggested that by 2015, around one million tourists would visit the archipelago annually.
"This means that the sector could start contributing with 30 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in contrast to the current 10 percent," she said, adding that "continuing the dynamic development of the sector, it could employ 53,000 people, demonstrating that there will be more economic growth and more employment."
Looking at the current level of investments in this sector, Ms Fontes Lima explained, "one understands why the government may remain optimistic regarding its growth targets." This, she said, was being "confirmed by several tour operators and, recently, in the international forum on tourism, where several experts were participating that confirmed this tendency."
The cabinet spokeswoman further revealed that in 2006 alone, Cape Verde authorities had approved of investment projects totalling US$ 300 million, "which remains a promising indicator" of economic growth. A great part of these approved investments had been in the booming tourism sector.
Ms Fontes Liman also announced policy decisions made at the cabinet meeting and passed to the Ministry of Economy. The Ministry was instructed to fast-track its works to present a strategic orientation on how to project, coordinate and plan for this boom in an adequate manner, how to diversify the tourism sector and a plan on how the different islands were to benefit from this dynamic.
For the first time, the Praia government also indicated the necessity of a popular debate surrounding the development of Cape Verde a tourist destination, having in mind the importance of the sector for the future development of the country. This, Ms Fontes Lima said, could end up in a common national vision and correcting and clarifying various disputed issues.
In particular the creation of several Zones of Integrated Tourism Development (ZDTI) had caused controversy, although only one such zone had been created since 2001. Now, as more are planned, government would include this issue in a national debate.
Planned developments indeed are far greater than current achievements. Since 1993, the state of Cape Verde has sold out lands for tourism development equivalent to around one percent of the national territory. Planned establishments on the islands of Boa Vista and Sal would occupy 15 and 17 percent of the islands' surface respectively, including landscape modelling zones and new public infrastructure.
CAPE VERDE: Tourists Flock to Cape Verde in 2015
Cape Verde's National Statistics Institute (INE) reported a 2% annual increase in visitor numbers in the first half of 2015, putting the country on target for a bumper year for tourism.
In the first six months of the year, more than 278,000 visitors arrived on the beautiful archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa, attracted by its fabulous beaches known as jumping-off points for wind sports and a great location for diving among shipwrecks.
During the second quarter, Cape Verde hosted 116,200 tourists representing a 4.8% increase on the same period of 2014, despite the country's relatively under-developed tourism infrastructure. Overnight stays the first six months increased 3.5% to almost 1.8 million with hotels remaining the most popular type of accommodation for 87.3% of visitors to the tiny archipelago nation.
The data reveals that the second quarter of the year saw mostly British tourists arriving in Cape Verde, representing around 25% of international visitors. Brits holidayed for an average stay of 9 days, with the island of Sal as the most popular resort location, accounting for around 46% of overnight stays in hotel establishments.
Cape Verde is a former Portuguese colony and maintains close links with Portugal and the Eurozone. Special partnership status has been granted by the EU and in 2008 Cape Verde joined the World Trade Organisation. The country has improved significantly to achieve economic stability with plenty of potential for further growth, particularly through its tourist sector.
The country's democracy is one of Africa's most stable and Cape Verde was officially removed from the United Nations' list of Least Developed Countries in December 2007. The country's outlook has never been better according to the World Bank, recently reporting that 'good governance, sound macroeconomic management, trade openness and increased integration into the global economy, as well as the adoption of effective social development policies underpinned an impressive development trajectory'.
Around half of Cape Verde's 482,000 population lives on the biggest island, Santiago which is home to the capital city, Praia. Tourism is mostly concentrated on the island of Sal which has the country's only international airport one of 2 international airports capable of receiving charter flights from Europe. New and bigger international airports are scheduled to be opened in Santiago, San Vicente and Boa Vista, boosting residential property prices in those areas.
Almost every habitable island of the archipelago has new development in construction. Capital values are consequently rising by 10%-15% annually and yet property in Cape Verde is still very much a bargain at around €1,200-€1,650/m².
Despite the recent rise in visitor numbers, Cape Verde remains largely undiscovered to international travellers, despite its unique cultural vibe and breathtaking beauty. Data from the INE from 1997 shows that 45,000 visitor arrivals were recorded for the year compared with more than 500,000 expected in 2015, illustrating the country's massive rise in popularity among international travellers over the years.
Consequently, the archipelago has been overlooked by property investors and the market for holiday rentals is almost non-existent. A studio unit in popular Santa Maria is currently priced at around €81,000 which would offer a yield in the region of 8%-9%, according to local realtors.
The ten archipelago islands of Cape Verde are clustered 280 miles off the coast of Africa, approximately one hour south of the Canary Islands. Notable for its vibrant blend of Portuguese and African cultures the country is also blessed with long stretches of fine white sandy beaches and an all year round perfect temperature of between 25 and 34 degrees.
With booming tourism and discounted real estate, it won't be long before investors zoom in on Cape Verde's bountiful property market. For investors seeking a lower entry level property purchase, there are investment opportunities in the country's hotel sector currently attracting interest among buyers of income generating assets, starting from as little as €10,000.
In the first six months of the year, more than 278,000 visitors arrived on the beautiful archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa, attracted by its fabulous beaches known as jumping-off points for wind sports and a great location for diving among shipwrecks.
During the second quarter, Cape Verde hosted 116,200 tourists representing a 4.8% increase on the same period of 2014, despite the country's relatively under-developed tourism infrastructure. Overnight stays the first six months increased 3.5% to almost 1.8 million with hotels remaining the most popular type of accommodation for 87.3% of visitors to the tiny archipelago nation.
The data reveals that the second quarter of the year saw mostly British tourists arriving in Cape Verde, representing around 25% of international visitors. Brits holidayed for an average stay of 9 days, with the island of Sal as the most popular resort location, accounting for around 46% of overnight stays in hotel establishments.
Cape Verde is a former Portuguese colony and maintains close links with Portugal and the Eurozone. Special partnership status has been granted by the EU and in 2008 Cape Verde joined the World Trade Organisation. The country has improved significantly to achieve economic stability with plenty of potential for further growth, particularly through its tourist sector.
The country's democracy is one of Africa's most stable and Cape Verde was officially removed from the United Nations' list of Least Developed Countries in December 2007. The country's outlook has never been better according to the World Bank, recently reporting that 'good governance, sound macroeconomic management, trade openness and increased integration into the global economy, as well as the adoption of effective social development policies underpinned an impressive development trajectory'.
Around half of Cape Verde's 482,000 population lives on the biggest island, Santiago which is home to the capital city, Praia. Tourism is mostly concentrated on the island of Sal which has the country's only international airport one of 2 international airports capable of receiving charter flights from Europe. New and bigger international airports are scheduled to be opened in Santiago, San Vicente and Boa Vista, boosting residential property prices in those areas.
Almost every habitable island of the archipelago has new development in construction. Capital values are consequently rising by 10%-15% annually and yet property in Cape Verde is still very much a bargain at around €1,200-€1,650/m².
Despite the recent rise in visitor numbers, Cape Verde remains largely undiscovered to international travellers, despite its unique cultural vibe and breathtaking beauty. Data from the INE from 1997 shows that 45,000 visitor arrivals were recorded for the year compared with more than 500,000 expected in 2015, illustrating the country's massive rise in popularity among international travellers over the years.
Consequently, the archipelago has been overlooked by property investors and the market for holiday rentals is almost non-existent. A studio unit in popular Santa Maria is currently priced at around €81,000 which would offer a yield in the region of 8%-9%, according to local realtors.
The ten archipelago islands of Cape Verde are clustered 280 miles off the coast of Africa, approximately one hour south of the Canary Islands. Notable for its vibrant blend of Portuguese and African cultures the country is also blessed with long stretches of fine white sandy beaches and an all year round perfect temperature of between 25 and 34 degrees.
With booming tourism and discounted real estate, it won't be long before investors zoom in on Cape Verde's bountiful property market. For investors seeking a lower entry level property purchase, there are investment opportunities in the country's hotel sector currently attracting interest among buyers of income generating assets, starting from as little as €10,000.
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