Cuba Hopes to Draw Three Million Tourists Again

Cuba’s travel industry remain as hot as it gets, posting figures in the course of this ongoing year that bear out the outcomes chalked up in 2014, when more than 3 million sunbathers visited the island nation and over $2.7 billion worth of revenues were raked in.

During the opening press conference at the 35th edition of the International Tourism Fair (FIT Cuba 2015), Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz explained that Cuba has put a large business portfolio of 53 different projects in the hands of potential foreign investors. Right now, there are 26 joint ventures operating in Cuba.

One of the most striking developments in this year’s fair is the massive turnout of travel agencies, airlines and tour operators from the United States (156 companies in all) that are attending this tradeshow in Cuba for the first time.

For his part, Carlos Vogeler, UNWTO director for the Western Hemisphere, said the region has been leading the pack in recent months as far as the number of incoming visitors is concerned, going both Europe and the Asia-Pacific region one better.

“The Western Hemisphere has become so far this year the world’s fastest-growing region in the number of travelers, reporting an 8 percent increase, twice as much the average growth around the world,” Mr. Vogeler was quoted as saying.