Tourism makes inroads in Cuba

Julieta Gutiérrez

Wednesday, Nov. 25

HAVANA, Cuba - Despite the global economic crisis and the H1N1 flu pandemic, Cuba will close 2009 with a record of more than 2.4 million visitors, surpassing the 2.3 million who visited in 2008, said Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero. However, income fell by about 11 percent over the same period.

Marrero told Opciones that the winter season will be "good" and allow the tourism industry "to close the year with the arrival of 2,425,000 visitors, a new record."

Furthermore, reported to EFE, 2009 recorded the arrival of some 95,000 visitors from Canada, the main origin of tourists to the island. Canada is followed by the UK, Spain, Italy, France, Mexico, Argentina, Russia and the United States.

While European travelers fell this year owing to the global economic crisis, reported AP, the easing of travel restrictions by President Barack Obama's administration allowed an increased flow of Cuban-American tourists.

Tourism is the main source of revenue for the Cuban economy after medical and professional services. However, reported Xinhua, 2009 has not been a good year. While official figures show that between January and October the number of visitors was up 3.3 percent from the same period in 2008, which had 2.3 million visitors (a 9.3 percent increase from 2007), the industry produced US$2.74 billion, representing a year-on-year decrease of 11.7 percent. Cuba's foreign trade in goods also fell by 36 percent over the same period.

By the end of October, tourism-related income had fallen across the board, including accommodation, food, shopping, recreation and transportation. Accommodation was the worst hit, noted ABN, with an 18 percent loss. The island offers 47,500 hotel rooms for international tourism, 60 percent of which are rated four or five stars.

Cuban authorities stressed to EFE that 2009 was the sixth consecutive year that more than two million people had visited the island. Despite predictions from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) that activity would drop by five percent, owing to the "the crisis and pandemics," reported El Mundo, Cuba experienced an overall growth of 3.9 percent.

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