(Confederation of Latin American Planners and Organizers of Congress and Related Events) The fact that Cuba hosts COCAL’s chairmanship office is “no doubt a recognition to the development of the island nation’s congress industry and to the professional level achieved by our country,” says COCAL chairman Eulogio Rodriguez, who also lays out the confederation’s goals in this interview.

In this exclusive interview, Mr. Mateos underscored the special features of the Meliá Havana, one of the major hotels in the city for both leisure tourism and the special modality of business, congress and general events. In the same breath, Mr. Mateos talked about the good numbers posted by the hotel in recent times, the top-quality services that single it out and the projects its front office has in store.

Read out this exclusive interview with one of Cuba’s most influential businessmen from the realm of tobacco and cigars. Market outlooks, new perspectives and strategies, expansion prospects, duty-free sales and the outcomes of the recently concluded Fifth Cigar Festival are contained in some of the Mr. Ercilla’s answers to Caribbean News Digital.

Q: Mr. Holder, can you give us an assessment of how the Caribbean fared in the year 2002? R:/ Unfortunately, we haven’t received all the 2002 statistics, so I can’t give you a real appraisal. We started 2002 with very disappointing outcomes. But we’ve been getting better as the year goes by. There are even some countries that have done somewhat better than last year, especially in the months of November and December. As soon as we have all the information in out hands, we expect (the region) to be 3 to 4 percent lower than the year before. This is for the region as a whole, because some countries will remain unchanged.

Jungle Tour, a trademarked product owned by Queen International S.A., has been going stronger in Cuba with each passing year since the company landed on the island on Feb. 28, 1998. Jungle Tour now marks its fifth anniversary with $8 million worth of revenues. Under a slogan reading The Ultimate Adventure, the company brings emotions and nature enjoyment to tourists from over 22 nations who come to this country looking for adventure and nautical fun, Jungle Tour’s general manager Stefan Geier told Caribbean News.

CND: The Cigar Festival has already become a tradition. What’s the reason behind this? A: The Cigar Festival is an event that has rightfully turned out to be a tradition for cigar aficionados all over the world. We’re now holding the fifth edition (Feb. 24 to 28) and this time around we’re marking the 510th anniversary of cigar’s arrival to the Old World and the fifth birthday of the Trinidad brand. Some 60 countries are attending this major event.