Footballers become heroes: how Cape Verde gains from World Cup miracle!

Hand on heart: how many of you would have known exactly where Cape Verde is before this World Cup?

Now, after Vozinha and co. thrilled the football world for around three weeks, suddenly everyone knows the island nation off the Atlantic coast of West Africa.

With their sensational run to the knockout stage and their epic clash with world champions Argentina, the Cape Verdeans have become the undisputed fan favorites.

Of course, the hype — and the attention around topics like Vozinha’s social media profile — will fade over time. That’s just how it works.

And even so, there’s a good chance that the country of 590,000 people will benefit in the long term from its heroic World Cup performance.

Tourist interest in Cape Verde has noticeably increased in recent days. This trend is especially visible in the USA, but demand is likely to rise sharply worldwide as well.

This is also the case in China, among other places. According to Trip.com data cited by the Global Times, search queries had risen by 388 percent year-on-year by the end of June. Compared with the previous month, the increase was as high as 852 percent. At the same time, flight and hotel bookings went up by 76 and 46 percent respectively.  

The Cape Verdean stars really did a fantastic job! Football really is more than just a game…

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.