Aircraft from Cape Verde's carrier TACV on São Vicente island

© Manuel de Sousa/afrol News

afrol News, 30 November - Several European tour operators are setting up extra flights to Cape Verde this northern winter season as the archipelago is becoming more popular among tourists than expected.

Cape Verde was among the few tourist destinations able to experience a solid increase in the numbers of visitors during the 2008-09 financial crisis. The industry had slashed prices to secure its growth in the European market and was became a major winter destination.

Growth in the Cape Verdean tourism industry, where one hotel complex after the other currently is being inaugurated, had been projected to be significant this year. In the largest markets, tour operators had for long planned increased flight connections to Cape Verde this winter.

Now, it seems clear, this growth will be even greater than foreseen as one operator after the other is announcing extra flights to Cape Verde to meet a greater-than-expected demand.

The latest European company to announce extra flights to Cape Verde's Sal island during the Christmas season was Luxembourg's LuxairTours, which today said that two extra flights would be set up to meet demands.

Cape Verde has received very positive headlines by European travel journalists during the year, and has been recommended as a reasonably cheap and guaranteed warm winter destination in travel magazines and articles in Germany, Britain, Italy, Spain and Scandinavia.

The West African archipelago recently even made headlines in the English and French guidebook "Lonely Planet's Best in Travel", which picked Cape Verde as one of the world's "hottest" destinations for 2011. Cape Verde had "quite a lot" to offer tourists: "Soaring mountains terraced in greens, a volcano with its head in the clouds, world-class watersports and sizzling, saucy festivals," the book sums up, calling it "new Canary Islands."

In addition to extra flights by tour operators, regular flights to Cape Verde have also seen a steep increase during 2010, with improved connections to Spain and the UK as the main improvements.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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