The study, which was under consultation until April, makes a positive assessment of the impact that the intervention in the airports will have on the archipelago, whose economy depends on tourism for about 25%.

The remodelling is expected to attract more visitors and this aspect is reflected in several of the recommendations.

Among them, it is suggested "mechanisms to manage the pressure on the real estate market and the cost of housing, due to the increase in tourism and the demand for workers, minimising the tendency of social conditions to deteriorate".

This idea about real estate and housing appears three times, in different chapters, linked to quality of life, values and natural resources and community cohesion, in the document, consulted by Lusa.

It is even proposed that "obligations be established for tourism operators to create housing conditions for workers in the developments".

The list also recommends that there be articulation between tourism and the management of infrastructures and water supply, "in order to analyse the response capacity of the various islands to a potential increase in visitors".

Specifically about the island of Boa Vista, ways are suggested to increase the contact and benefits of the local populations with the presence of visitors on the island, for example, implementing "free or price-controlled bus circuits, so that tourists can move around more easily, instead of being isolated in the hotels".

The references to the expected increase in tourist pressure appear several times in an assessment with few negative points.

"It is observed that there is a contribution with a very significant positive trend" and "the cases in which there are slight negative trends correspond to situations that can be minimised, either by the recommendations or by the measures that are taken", the document states.

On the other hand, the proposals involve responsibilities that go beyond "the scope of powers and capacity for intervention of the plan and Cabo Verde Airports, which is the responsibility of various public administration entities".

At the level of broader recommendations, the assessment proposes an amendment to the patronage law "that obliges those who invest in the country to make socio-economic investments".

There are also suggestions regarding agricultural productivity, health care, water and waste management.

In relation to the island of Fogo, it is suggested to consider "the effective need for night flights, safeguarding night transfer situations, through the installation of an emergency lighting system".

In São Vicente, another location is recommended for the expansion of the São Pedro allotment, a coastal town, next to the runway of the Cesária Évora airport.

International passenger traffic broke a new record at Cape Verde's airports in 2023, with more than two million passengers (arrivals and departures), according to data from the Civil Aviation Agency (AAC).

Last year, the Cape Verdean government granted the airport public service concession to Cabo Verde Airports, a Cape Verdean law firm of the Vinci group.

The aim is to "expand and modernise" the country's four international airports (Boa Vista, Praia, Sal and São Vicente) and three aerodromes (Fogo, Maio and São Nicolau) with a 40-year investment plan.

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