In 2026, Cabo Verde is expected to officially surpass 1.5 million tourists, marking three consecutive years of hosting over 1 million visitors in its hotel establishments. This new context, coupled with diversification, presents a fresh challenge: managing the pressure generated by tourism. The experience of Sal Island reveals that rapid growth has transformed the island, particularly Santa Maria. The pressure on housing, services, infrastructure, and territory is evident.
The success of tourism on Sal Island is undeniable, but the scale achieved has changed the nature of the challenge. A small destination can survive with fragmented decisions, incomplete information, and reactive responses. However, a destination receiving 1.6 million passengers at its airport and concentrating a significant portion of national tourist activity now requires greater management capacity. This includes measuring pressure on its systems, monitoring territory transformation, understanding tourism's economic contribution, and anticipating problem responses.
Statistics show that Sal Island is a destination that receives more people for less time. Between 2019 and 2025, guests grew by 52.3%, while overnight stays increased by only 19.6%; the average stay fell from 6.0 to 4.8 nights. The two main tourist islands, Sal and Boa Vista, present distinct profiles. In 2025, the bed occupancy rate was 77% on Sal Island and 106% on Boa Vista, compared to 72% nationally; the average stay was 4.8 nights on Sal Island and 7.0 nights on Boa Vista.
The case of Boa Vista highlights a broader issue: the quality of information and the ability to measure pressure on destinations become more crucial as scale increases. For operators, the reduction in average stay has concrete consequences: more entries and exits, more laundry, more transfers, and higher capture costs per sold overnight stay. Reversing this trend is not just a statistical issue or the responsibility of individual establishments. It is a collective management issue that requires a coordinated approach.
Sal Island represents a high degree of tourism concentration and limited demand diversification. About 82% of guests and over 90% of overnight stays remain concentrated on two islands. Sal Island alone received 57.7% of the country's guests in 2025 – approximately 720,000 people – and accounted for 61.1% of the national beds. In 2023, it concentrated 6,472 of the 11,196 workers in the country's hotel establishments.
The experience of Ghana is instructive in this regard. The country measures visits from family and friends: 22.29% of international arrivals in 2024, almost tied with business (22.43%) and vacation (22.15%). This indicator is simple but strategic, as it makes visible a demand linked to the diaspora that could disappear within general statistics. Cabo Verde has a proportionally very expressive diaspora but lacks equivalent measurement. This demand can be particularly relevant for islands outside the mass tourism model.
The next decade will be shaped by Cabo Verde's capacity for learning and adaptation. The tourism sector can create a platform for economic specialization and professional training. The discussion on labor tends to focus on hotel and restaurant jobs, but a modern hotel also needs technicians in various fields. The expansion of tourism can generate opportunities for specialization and economic growth, but it requires a coordinated effort to address the challenges and opportunities arising from growth.
Key points
- Cabo Verde is expected to welcome over 1.5 million tourists in 2026.
- The country faces new challenges in managing tourism pressure and diversifying demand.
- Effective management and measurement of tourism's impact are crucial for sustainable growth.
