Santa Maria Hotels
Established as a health cure
In 1967 a Belgian industrialist and inventor Georges Vynckier.
built a small guest house on the beach at Santa Maria for his personal
use and invited guests. The six mile long expanse of white sand
is unquestionably one of the most beautiful beaches in the country.
The commitment of the Vynckier family to build the Pousada Morabeza
was greatly enhanced by the necessity of South African Airways for
facilities to lodge its flight crews in Ilha do Sal. For over 20
years, SAA was denied air passage rights by most African governments
as part of the international anti-apartheid movement. Hotel Morabeza
and the seeds of international tourism were sown in Santa Maria
because of the convergence of these two factors.
In 1986 the Government of Cape Verde built the Hotel Belorizonte
immediately adjacent to the Hotel Morabeza. Novotel, the French
hotelier, was contracted to manage the property for five years,
train a cadre of Cape Verdean hotel staff and began the initial
investment in marketing and promotion of Ilha do Sal as an international
tourism destination. Several private watersports companies (Dive
Cape Verde, Ltd. founded by Ray Almeida and a windsurfing company
operated by Francois Guy, an international French champion) joined
with the hotels and the Government of Cape Verde to promote Santa
Maria as a destination for windsurfing, scuba diving and big game
fishing.
The Government of Cape Verde made the decision to develop Ilha do
Sal, particularly the south and south western coastal areas as an
international tourism hotel zone. In the coming decade the airport,
energy and water production and port infrastructures would be dramatically
expanded to support the systematic development of the Island. The
future of Santa Maria and Ilha do Sal would be tied to tourism.
In 1989, Aeroflot, the Russian flagship air carrier was granted
permission to construct and operate a hotel on the beach at Santa
Maria.