Pedro Machado spoke on the sidelines of the annual investment forum of the archipelago, on the island of Sal, after meetings with Cape Verdean authorities.
The Cape Verde School of Hospitality and Tourism, based in Praia, the capital, has been one of the main areas of cooperation between the two countries, now focused on opening the São Vicente island branch, planned for the next academic year.
“Portugal assumes the technical component,” providing curricula taught in Portuguese schools, in addition to trainers who can travel to Cape Verde “to conduct courses, whether intensive or extensive training,” to enable residents to continue them, Machado explained.
“Our intention is for [the branch] to be operational in the next academic year,” added Pedro Machado.
He noted that “today, there is an installed capacity” of workforce for the sector formed by Cape Verde, “which is recognized by Portuguese companies,” for example, by “not practically needing to bring in expatriates to conduct business” in the archipelago.
The Cape Verdean hospitality and tourism school is also one of the sources for professionals recruited to Portugal.
“There is a second process in our cooperation agreement, which involves replicating the Revive program,” converting state-administered buildings that are underutilized and putting them to use for tourism—a Portuguese experience that Cape Verde intends to study.
“In Portugal, we have 64 mapped properties,” many with strong historical and architectural elements, he pointed out.
Pedro Machado accompanied a delegation of Portuguese entrepreneurs for meetings with other sector participants at a time when tourism in Cape Verde is booming.
“It obviously interests us to increasingly attract more [tourist] flow to Portugal, but we are also interested in Portuguese companies developing their business models” and moving towards internationalization, he said.
“We are no longer talking [only] about traditional hotel groups, with the size and scale to internationalize; we are talking about tourist entertainment companies” and “small local accommodation entrepreneurs,” he exemplified, in relation to the visiting delegation to the Portuguese-speaking archipelago.
Tourism directly influences nearly fifty areas of the economy, “it is the most cross-cutting sector with other activities,” from primary to tertiary sector dynamics, he indicated.
Cape Verde recorded a record of 1.2 million guests in 2024, and demand is expected to continue growing with the opening of new air links with Europe, as authorities attempt to promote new products beyond the traditional “sun and beach” offerings.
