Cabo Verde: Government invests €8.2M to bring tourism to rural villages - Macau Business

Cabo Verde is to invest around €8.2 million in a five-year programme of tourism and environmental upgrading of rural villages to diversify its tourism offer beyond the usual sun and beach.

The creation of this programme was approved by a resolution of the cabinet meeting of 25 January, to which Lusa had access on Wednesday, in which the government said that the Covid-19 pandemic caused a virtual paralysis of tourism in 2020 in the archipelago, conditioning the national strategy, which aimed at the target of one million annual tourists.

"With the discovery of vaccines, the pandemic is expected to retreat in 2021 and return to normalcy, with economic growth resuming, especially in tourism. From this point of view, it is very appropriate to accelerate the diversification of tourist segments (…), creating more opportunities in rural areas," according to the resolution, which recalled that tourism guarantees 25% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with a record of almost 820,000 tourists in 2019.

Furthermore, in environmental terms, the need to better integrate the conservation of biodiversity into tourism is stressed, to address the vulnerabilities of existing ecosystems and, at the same time, ensure the environmental improvement of rural areas, making them more qualified and attractive for tourism activity.   

"It is precisely in this context that the government has opted for the implementation of a tourism and environmental valorisation programme for rural villages, aiming at greater income for families, greater resilience of communities and a more inclusive and sustainable development," said the resolution that creates the programme "Tourism and Environmental Valorisation of Rural Villages".

This programme will be implemented in rural villages on the islands of Santo Antão, São Nicolau, Maio, Santiago, Fogo and Brava, with privileged characteristics in terms of natural values such as biodiversity or landscapes, socio-cultural or historical, with the final goal of diversifying tourism supply, improving basic sanitation and increasing the income and quality of life of the population in rural areas.

"Bathing tourism (sun and beach) is undoubtedly the most emblematic and the shallow islands of Sal and Boa Vista are the main recipients of investments in this field. The country also offers good conditions for the development of other tourist segments, of which ecotourism and rural tourism stand out, especially on the most important islands," the resolution added.

The interventions of this state programme foresee the landscape arrangement of the surrounding rural area, such as side roads, corrals, belvederes, rehabilitation of dwellings and their framing in the landscape, but also the promotion of tourist activity in these villages with the creation of pedestrian circuits, signage and interpretation centres, among other investments, such as the simple construction of bathrooms or the household water connection.

Generally speaking, this state programme will include business promotion measures that provide more and better accommodation, agricultural production, gastronomy, local handicrafts and cultural events, and for its implementation will be allocated mainly resources registered in the Tourism funds, in more than 416 million escudos (€3.7 million) and the Environment, around 502 million escudos (€4.5 million), subject to the leverage mechanisms, the government said.

It is also established that rural villages with basic infrastructures, namely water, electricity and sanitation, with elements of tourist attractiveness, including agriculture and fishing, with a tradition of arts and crafts such as pottery, ceramics, weaving and handicrafts, but also close to pedestrian routes or known as places of the artisanal transformation of products, are eligible for this programme.

However, it is also foreseen that the improvement of rural villages on the intervention islands is programmed according to a consensual list between the government and the different municipalities.