The 19th Habano Festival Gets Going
The 19th edition of the Habano Festival, the world’s most important event on premium cigars, kicked off Monday at the International Conference Center in Havana. The weeklong event will stretch out through March 3.
Read the Excelencias Magazine's special issue on the 19th Habano Festival
Watch the Habano Festival’s photo gallery here
Like every yearly edition, the festival will feature special launches, with H. Upmann Sir Winston Gran Reserva Cosecha 2011, Montecristo Línea 1935, Quai D´Orsay -revamped and boasting new vitolas- and Romeo y Julieta Petit Royales basking in the limelight. In the same breath, Cohiba Talismán, Partagás Series No.1 and Punch Regios de Punch will come out as Limited Editions.
During the opening press conference, Habanos S.A.’s chief of Market Operations, Enrique Babot Espinosa, spelled out the company’s major outcomes in the course of 2016. “We reaped $445 million worth of revenues in 2016, with 450 million units that account for 70 percent of the market share worldwide,” he said.
As far as the U.S. market is concerned, company execs recognize the steps taken by the U.S. government in terms of the sale and entry of Cuban cigars in American soil, a move that will allow for Habanos to enter that country and spread out the Cuban culture there.
Over 2,000 delegates, 180 journalists and 67 exhibitors from 11 countries are attending this year’s festival.
