São Tomé and Príncipe broke its tourism record again in 2025, recording 42,000 visitors, and aims to reach 50,000 tourists by 2030, according to an official source speaking to Lusa today.
“Growth was small […]. We need to understand the reason for that, but we are still satisfied. It would be worse if it had not grown. So it’s about 1.2% growth, more or less, but it still shows we have work to do,” said the Director-General of Tourism and Hospitality.
Shellita Viegas said Portugal remains the leading source market for arrivals, already a “consolidated market,” followed by France, Angola, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
The peak tourism months remain August and December, although last year there was also a significant increase in January. The institution’s goal is to reach at least 50,000 visitors by 2030.
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“It is true that we are not a mass tourism destination and we do not want to have a lot of people in São Tomé and Príncipe because the country’s infrastructure is not prepared for that. So we have a target of 50,000 […] by 2030,” she said.
Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism in São Tomé and Príncipe has been growing, with 35,817 visitors in 2023 and nearly 41,000 in 2024.
Shellita Viegas said the tourism authority has a set of planned and ongoing initiatives to reach this goal, including increased participation in international tourism fairs, rehabilitation of national tourist sites, and partnerships with digital influencers to promote the archipelago.
Meanwhile, the Directorate-General of Tourism has proposed changes to the tourism tax system paid by visitors, with a new model introduced in March.
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According to the official, the tax is now collected directly from tourists at a counter at the airport, replacing the previous system where it was charged by accommodation providers, but was not always properly transferred to the tourism fund managed by the authority.
The tax has also been changed from €2.10 per day to a flat fee of €25 for visitors to São Tomé and an additional €10 for those traveling to Príncipe. The revenue will fund tourism development initiatives.
“We had positive feedback from tourists, who paid the fee willingly and even said it was a good change. We found that quite encouraging, and it gives us motivation,” she said.
Shellita Viegas also noted that last year the country approved a tourism satellite account showing that tourism contributes 11% to GDP, although the institution believes the real contribution may be higher due to challenges in fully capturing employment and sector data.
