Cape Verde tourism on the up
According to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), over 125,000 hotel stays were recorded in Cape Verde in the first six months of this year, representing an increase of 33% over the same period in 2005 and a total bed occupation rate in the first half of 2006 stood at 43% . Hosting 66.8% of all hotel check ins registered, Sal island remains in highest demand followed by the islands of Santiago (16.5%) and São Vicente (8.4%). Of those recorded only 7.4% were attributed to Cape Verde residents indicating the growing amount of international tourism Cape Verde is now attracting. Cape Verde has long since been a holiday haven for Italians and they continue to make up the majority of tourists visiting this archipelago followed by the Portuguese due to the county’s natural proximity to Cape Verde with direct flights and Germans. All of them chose the island of Sal as their preferred island.
Continued investment in good marketing and tourism offerings means the archipelago of Cape Verde is improving its position as a favoured tourist destination. The INE statistics indicate 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. Current figures show that the tourism industry now contributes 10 percent of Cape Verde’s GDP.
Commenting on the findings, a spokeswoman for the Cape Verdean government said the government remains optimistic regarding its growth targets and the current trends are “extremely positive”.
In working towards building Cape Verde’s booming tourism infrastructure, she 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 of which a large percentage are tourism related. Since 1993, the equivalent of around 1 percent of national territory has been sold by the state of Cape Verde as land for tourism development.
Most of the property development in Cape Verde is concentrated around current tourist infrastructure, namely on the island of Sal and in particular its main town of Santa Maria. Until recently Sal was the only island with an international airport and is still the most developed with the Archipelago. The pace of development has lead to strong growth of land prices in recent years especially as Cape Verde continues marketing its tourist offerings and builds its reputation as a winter sun destination. Since the start of weekly direct flights into Sal International from both the UK and Germany, this will serve to further attract visitors to Sal Island in particular.
Just launched on Cape Verde’s Sal Island, Blu Marlin is new development offering an excellent opportunity for investment. Located in Santa Maria, the Blu Marlin apartments lie just 300m from the beach very close to the towns amenities.
A small project the single block comprises 6 ground floor studios, 4 1-2 apartments located on the first and second floors and 2 top floor penthouses.
For investors looking to maximise returns on their Cape Verde property investment, units are priced comparatively cheaply and offer great value for money. Prices of apartments in the Blu Marlin development start from €43,000.
For more information on Blu Marlin Cape Verde please contact us here or alternatively please call 0208 144 5070 to leave your details.
