Cape Verde raised three million euros in mandatory tourist fees in the first quarter, doubling the same period in 2022, above pre-pandemic revenue, according to official figures.
According to the Ministry of Finance’s report on budget execution as of March, tourism tax receipts for three months amounted to more than 334 million escudos (three million euros), equivalent to 35.3% of what was budgeted by the Government for this period. 2023, which is 946 million escudos (8.6 million euros).
This value of one million euros per month continues to exceed the value recorded for the same period in 2019, before the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on tourism demand, which was then 83 million escudos (749 thousand euros). month.
These figures also represent a 92.4% increase from the first three months of 2022, which then collected 178 million escudos (1.6 million euros), reflecting a “substantial increase in tourist demand in the quarter.” report.
The tourist tax was introduced by the government of Cape Verde in May 2013, with all hotels and similar establishments being required to charge 220 escudos (two euros) for every night of stay up to 10 days for every tourist over 16 years old. However, in January this cost increased by 25% to 276 escudos (2.50 euros) per night, as stipulated in the 2023 state budget.
“Given our commitment to eradicate extreme poverty and reduce absolute poverty, we understand that this can be a way to finance the MAIS fund, which will make it possible to make serious investments in the social sphere, in the construction of kindergartens. , spaces for young people, places for the elderly, and we understand that we can increase by 50 cents, that is, by 50 escudos, the tourist tax paid by tourists when they stay overnight in hotels,” Tourism Minister Carlos Santos explained earlier. .
“After doing research, we made sure that we are not going to have such a negative impact (…) Today, people, tourists, are more environmentally aware, but they also have a public consciousness about the impact they have and what they have in the visit they make to certain countries and in the case of Cape Verde, which is a poor country. And so, from what we have done, the analysis, we understand that this will not have an impact. MAIS Fund This is a fund established with the primary goal of eliminating extreme poverty,” he added.
Cape Verde hotels received a record 835,945 tourists in 2022 and more than four million overnight stays, according to data released at the end of March by the National Statistical Institute (INE).
According to the 2022 Cape Verde Visitor Movement Report, according to tourism statistics prepared by INE, the number of guests last year surpassed the previous record of 819,308 tourists in 2019, before the pandemic, and grew another 394% compared to 169,068 tourists. in 2021.
According to a previous report from the Ministry of Finance, income from fees that tourists in Cape Verde must pay has halved from 2020 to 2021, renewing a minimum of 145 million escudos (1.3 million euros). In 2022, they rose to 735.1 million escudos (6.6 million euros),
In 2019, this tax guaranteed an all-time high of 992 million escudos (8.9 million euros).
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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