A multi-year partnership between the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) and the Institute of Tourism of Cabo Verde (ITCV), financed by the World Bank, is helping position Cabo Verde as one of Africa’s leading adventure tourism destinations.
As part of the initiative, ATTA held its first AdventureWEEK in Cabo Verde from February 3 to 12, welcoming 14 international tour operators and media professionals from 10 countries. The 10-day itinerary, longer than ATTA’s usual seven-day format to reflect the archipelago’s island geography, introduced participants to hiking, cultural immersion and community-based experiences across the islands, including inter-island travel by short flights and ferry.
According to post-event data from participating tour operators, the event is expected to generate more than $7.1mn in visitor spending across the continent between 2026 and 2028. Operators estimate they will bring around 505 additional travellers in 2026, rising to 984 in 2027 and 1,506 in 2028, based on an average visitor spend of $2,395 per trip. 82% of operators surveyed plan to develop new itineraries featuring experiences from the programme, while 64% intend to build additional itineraries beyond it.
“Can Cabo Verde become a sustainable, world-class hiking destination?” said Gustavo Timo, president of ATTA, adding that participants gathered evidence over the course of the trip to answer yes.
Cabo Verde remains a predominantly sun-and-beach destination, accounting for nearly 80% of visitors in 2025, with real GDP growth of 7.3% in 2024 driven by a 16.5% rise in tourist arrivals, according to World Bank data. The ATTA-ITCV partnership, funded through the Resilient Tourism and Blue Economy Development Project, aims to diversify the country’s tourism economy through what ATTA calls the “three Ds”: diversification, dispersion and deepening of the visitor experience.
To date, 80 tourism professionals have completed training under the programme, including study visits to Portugal’s Rota Vicentina hiking trail. Joel Barbosa, coordinator of hiking tourism at ITCV, said the country continues to work on flight connections, lodging and trail signage identified by AdventureWEEK participants.