Photo Credit: An aerial view of a beach on Cabo Verde. EasyJet / EasyJet
The island nation draws 1.2 million tourists a year — mostly from Europeans on all-inclusive packages. That won't change overnight, but it may bring awareness to Americans who struggle to place the island nation on a map.
LinkedIn X Facebook Email What specific incentives is the government offering to attract U.S. hotel and resort investors? Does Cabo Verde have enough air capacity and hotel supply to convert the search surge into actual arrivals? How successfully did Morocco and Croatia sustain their World Cup tourism boost over the long term? Select a question above or ask something else
Cabo Verde wasn’t supposed to have a chance against Lionel Messi and the Argentina team. Instead, the tiny West African nation pushed the defending World Cup champs to extra time and a narrow 3-2 loss.
It was the smallest country in tournament history to advance to the knockout stage and now the roughly 550,000-person island nation is finding a new audience among millions of World Cup viewers. Interest in the destination spiked leading up to Friday's match, with Expedia, TUI, and Google all tracking a surge in searches.
The global attention could help diversify the island nation’s tourism industry, which has yet to truly crack source markets outside of Europe. While tourism makes up roughly a quarter of its GDP, it is largely dependent on European travelers visiting just two out of nine inhabited islands.
Most travelers book all-inclusive packages from foreign operators like TUI and Spain’s Meliá, keeping much of the tourist spe
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Tags: cabo verde , cape verde , tourism , world cup
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