Mr. Marrero was accompanied by the Vice President of the Council of Ministers, Ricardo Cabrisas, the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization, Taleb Rifai, the Secretary of State in charge of Foreign Trade, Tourism Promotion and French People Overseas, Fleur Pellegrin.

France will be the guest country at the FITCuba-2014 Tourism Fair, an event that will be held in Havana and is meant to promote the capital as a travel destination, Cuban Minister of Tourism Manuel Marrero announced here. France is the island nation’s fifth largest outbound market.

Cubana de Aviación will offer the first direct flight between Cuba and Brazil on June 10. Brazilian Tourism Minister Gastão Vieira made the announcement during the international tourism fair (FITCuba 2013) in Varadero. The weekly flights will connect Havana and São Paulo.

Melia, the leading foreign hotel chain in Cuba, is reopening Paradisus Princesa del Mar Hotel with a new royal service and will be rebranding the Melia Peninsula –both in Varadero Beach. But the largest development in the works is no doubt the Melia Marina Varadero.

Spain-based Ocean By H10 Hotels has iterated its intention to enhance its business in Cuba, a travel destination that’s been increasingly steadily over the past ten years. Jose Alejandro Gonzalez, the company’s chief of operations, told Caribbean News Digital talks are underway with Cuba’s Gaviota Group to get a management contract for just another lodging facility on the island nation.

Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism and Entertainment Wykeham McNeill is among a group of top-level tourism officials from the region who are currently examining ways to promote multi-destination tourism in the Caribbean and Latin America.