Cuba Wants to Become World Tourism Powerhouse

Cuba hopes to become a world tourism power, the island nation’s tourism minister Manuel Marrero said today during the presentation of the country’s heritage cities. Before attendants to FITCUBA 2009, Mr. Marrero unveiled the first seven villages founded on the island and praised their highly historic and cultural values.

In his keynote speech, Minister Marrero said that regardless of the ongoing economic crisis worldwide, Cuba is buttressing its investment in the sector and updating a development plan until the year 2015 in the fields of hotels, nautical activities, roads, water supply, cesspool water and waste treatments, among other fronts.

He stressed on the significance of tourism as one of the country’s main revenues sources in hard currency for the development of the nation.

According to Mr. Marrero, Canada continues to be Cuba’s number-one outbound market with a grand total of 820,000 sunbathers in 2008, up 10 percent from the previous year. UK is the runner-up, followed by Italy, Spain, France and Germany.

Spain has grown a solid 2.5 percent by the end of April as Cuba is working diligently to reel in far more visitors from the Latin American region, such as Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela.

“We’re not sitting on our hands just waiting for a windfall,” Mr. Marrero was quoted as saying when he referred to MINTUR’s efforts to branch out the local industry and showcase the real scope of many other allures Cuba has to offer in terms of culture, nature and health.

He highlighted the importance of the first seven villages founded by the Spaniards (Baracoa, Bayamo, Trinidad, Sancti Spiritus, Camaguey, Santiago de Cuba and Havana) between 1511 and 1519 with well-preserved architecture and a lot to show visitors around.

Cuba has 36 protected areas, 8 nature parks, 6 biosphere reserves, 9 World Heritage Site declared by UNESCO and many other attractions that could definitely turn the island nation into one of the world’s premier travel destinations.

During yesterday’s sessions, Tourism vice minister Maria Elena Lopez attended the issuing of postal stamps hailing this fair, as well as the presentations by the Havana Club Rum Museum and La Colmenita children’s theater group.