FitCuba 2018 Ready to Roll on May 2
FitCuba 2018, the island nation’s top international travel and tourism fair, is poised to have the largest turnout of delegates –as many as 3,000- as the fair unfolds on May 2-5 in Cayo Santa Maria, a beautiful and sought-after key off the coast of Villa Clara province, in central Cuba.
In a press conference held Tuesday at the Tryp Habana Libre Hotel in Havana, high-ranking officials from Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR) spelled out the details about the upcoming 38th edition of FitCuba 2018, an event that comes around at a time when the Caribbean island’s travel industry has nearly recovered altogether from the damages caused by hurricane Irma in September last year.
According to Yanet Ayala, head of communications and PR with MINTUR, this year’s fair will feature the United Kingdom as the guest country and will be the setting of choice to pay tribute to two Spanish companies –Globalia and Iberostar- that have been operating destination Cuba over the past 25 years.
The fact that Cayo Santa Maria will be the venue of FitCuba 2018 is not a random selection. This picture-perfect sun-and-beach destination off the north coast of central Cuba was one of the spots hurricane Irma pounded the hardest during its devastating trail back in September 2017.
Now with refurbished facilities and new builds, the key is ready to both host Cuba’s number-one tourism event and show the island nation’s top outbound markets that the country has fully recovered from the hurricane’s disastrous aftermath.
Within the framework of FitCuba 2018, the MINTUR will also unveil two new travel destinations on the central province of Villa Clara: Sagua la Grande and Esquivel Key.
For his part, MINTUR’s Marketing chief Michel Bernal explained that despite a 7 percent decrease from last year’s number of tourist arrivals, the island nation marches on towards the goal of cracking the 5-million-tourist plateau for the first time ever.
With that purpose in mind, Cuba’s travel industry is relying heavily on its traditionally strong outbound markets, with Canada leading the pack and followed by Cuban-Americans, U.S. tourists, five European countries, Mexico and Argentina in that order.
In an effort to further branch out its travel industry, Cuba is putting its smart money on other segments that are increasingly catching on around the world and reeling in big bucks for the local economies, such as cultural and historical travel, MICE and cruise calls.
