This news affects many tourists around the world, who learned about it surprisingly and unexpectedly. The travel company has flown to the Cape Verde Islands among many other destinations.
How will Thomas Cook’s insolvency affect tourism in Cape Verde?
We at the Friedrich Hospitality Foundation (FHF) are particularly curious about the answer to this question. The lack of a tour operator could affect the Cape Verdean government’s goal of attracting one million tourists to the country by 2021.
In the second quarter of this year, 26% of tourist arrivals came from the United Kingdom, followed by Portugal with 12.1%, France with 11% and Germany with 10.9%. Therefore, the Brits are one of the most important tourist nations for Cape Verde.
But for Cape Verde, the situation could also mean an opportunity, because package tours have so far dominated the tourist scene on Cape Verde. Perhaps smaller tour operators and local entrepreneurs, such as restaurant owners and owners of small hotel facilities, will now have the opportunity to fill the gap that has been created and strengthen individual tourism.
We remain curious and will continue to follow the development on the Cape Verde Islands!
Link to the figures: click here
