Tourists come to Cape Verde for an Easter beach holiday

Our new “White Hotel” will open soon and will certainly be an excellent contribution to the development of the island, both in terms of business travel and in terms of leisure,” explained Alexandre Abade, CEO of the Oasis Atlântico Group.

For this Easter period, the group has sold-out hotels Salinas Sea on Sal Island and Tarrafal Alfândega Suites on Santiago Island (opened 2022). The Hotel Belorizonte, also located in Sala, is 70% full this Easter week, while Porto Grande on the island of Sao Vicente is about 85% full.

The Praiamar Hotel, also located on the island of Santiago, has the lowest occupancy rate of the five hotels during the Easter period, but it even picks up next week thanks to the Praia holding Kriol Jazz. festival.

In addition, according to data provided to Lusa by the Spanish group, six hotels in Cape Verde owned by the RIU brand, the largest private employer in the archipelago, are more than 70% occupied during the Easter period.

On the island of Sal, the Spanish group has divisions RIU Cabo Verde, RIU Funana and RIU Palace Santa Maria, and on the island of Boa Vista – RIU Karamboa, reopened in November after an investment of 48 million euros, RIU Palace. Boa Vista and RIU Touareg, for a total of 4479 rooms, all of which have fully recovered in more than a year after the suspension caused by the covid-19 pandemic.

Cape Verde is recovering from a deep economic and financial crisis caused by a sharp drop in tourism demand – a sector that guarantees 25% of the archipelago’s gross domestic product (GDP) – since March 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic. It experienced a historic economic downturn in 2020 equivalent to 14.8% of GDP, followed by a 7% growth in 2021 and 17.7% in 2022, driven by a recovery in tourism demand.