Cuba shows healthy recovery in international tourism

BY LUZ MARINA FORNIELES

Friday, May 14, 2010

AFTER two months showing decreases in the amount of visitors for the months of March and April, Cuba recovered its grounds to position itself as a leading Caribbean destination in tourism although it has access to only 50 per cent of its natural market because of the US blockade.

There is no doubt that in terms of tourism, Cuba has overcome multiple setbacks and exhibits at the end of the first four months of the year healthy arrival numbers.

Despite the growth of competition, and Cuba at a disadvantage as a result of the difficult economic environment in which it operates, climate change and lack of access to 50 per cent of the Caribbean tourism market, it has weathered the storm.

"Cuba has overcome these setbacks," said Cuba's Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero last week. He announced that the initial quarter of the year was historic, with the reception of more than one million travellers (1.053 million).

"It was surprising because we started with a bad January and February, really bad ones, but March and April were very good," said Marrero.

The Cuban authorities decided to continue betting on the strengthening of the tourist industry with options such as marinas, golf courses and other tourism investments, while seeking to design the best strategy to take forward the depressed sugar industry which has been displaced as Cuba's top hard currency earner, generating annual revenues of some two billion dollars and showing signs of good health.

The results of the January-April period only served to build on encouraging tourism arrival numbers. Cuba closed 2009 with a rise of 3.5 per cent, when global activity contracted by 4.3 per cent.

Canada leads the emitting markets by sending almost a million vacationers every year.

However, Europe has lagged behind and only Spain shows increasing arrivals from that sector.

Then there is the upward trend in the territories of South America such as Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Peru, which increase their potential. However, there are still significant untapped reserves in other directions as in the case of Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico. Cuba is now looking to attract the Russian, Chinese and Indian markets.

Of the 50,000 rooms currently in stock Cuba will add another 20,000 in the next five years. Other investing efforts underway include turning Havana Bay into a tourist port, improvements at airports in Varadero and the Terminal 2 of the "Jose Marti" International Airport in Havana and then the rehabilitation of many heritage buildings.

According to the minister of tourism in the last two decades Cuba has managed to climb 14 places up to ninth position among destinations in the region.

The minister further added that in the last twenty years Cuba received 29 million visitors from more than 70 countries.

Cuba has faced challenges, for example, in terms of quality, infrastructure and airline links. However, for the last six years this has not stopped it exceeding the benchmark of two million international arrivals per year.

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Cuba shows healthy recovery in international tourism