Cuba Reaches its First Million Tourist Arrivals of the Year

Monday, 04 March 2019 15:18

Cuba Reaches its First Million Tourist Arrivals of the Year

Written by RHC/PL

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Cuba Reaches its First Million Tourist Arrivals of the Year

Photo: PL

Five days ahead of the same period last year, Cuba reached one million tourist arrivals Sunday, said Manuel Marrero Cruz, Cuban minister of Tourism, in his Twitter account.

Havana, Cuba.- The minister added that workers of the so-called smokeless industry are thus ratifying their commitment to exceed five million visitors, convinced of the contribution to the island's economic growth and its establishment as a destination for peace, health and safety.

This year Havana was selected as the best destination and cruise port in the western Caribbean and the Mayan Riviera, while the specialized web portal TripAdvisor selected Varadero as the second best beach in the world.

Last December Marrero Cruz said that 2019 will be a challenge for tourism, and all business institutions have prepared a plan, not based on the insufficiencies they had in 2018, but on the existing potential.

The tourism official stressed that to surpass the five million 100 thousand visitors mark, will mean a growth of 7.4 during a period of much movement due, among other reasons, to the actions that will be undertaken on the occasion of the 500 years of Havana, the International Fair of Tourism, and the extensive investment process that is taking place throughout the country.

DÍAZ-CANEL PRESIDES OVER MEETING OF CUBAN MINISTRY OF TOURISM

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel heads Monday the Ministry of Tourism's assessment meeting, which analyzes the 2018 results and projections for this year.

The meeting, according to the Presidency of the Republic, is being held under the call of the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Raul Castro, to consider each hotel opened "one more building to generate within our borders export income very necessary for the country."

Cuba, on Sunday, reached one million international visitors, five days ahead of last year, when the Caribbean country reached a record figure of 4.750,000, an achievement praised by Díaz-Canel in his Twitter.

The outcome should ratify Cuba's objective of surpassing the five million tourists for the first time, in an increasingly complex environment due to the US aggressiveness and the efforts of its current administration to tighten the economic, commercial and financial blockade.

The forum should also consider tourism as one of the key elements to boost productive chains in Cuba, along with factors such as foreign investment, exports and the private sector.(RHC/PL)