Faced with the decline in visitors from Canada and Europe, the Government tries to attract more Russians and Mexicans
14ymedio, Madrid, 6 September 2024 — Cuba is wrapping up its first tourism law, which should be approved in December 2025. The news broke this Thursday in Montevideo when the Observatory of Tourism Law of the Americas and the Caribbean was inaugurated, a venue agreed on last May in Varadero.
Juan José Álvarez, legal director of the ministry headed by Juan Carlos García Granda, represented Cuba at the inauguration of the Observatory, where the regime will expose – he said – “the values that support its tourism policy, based on peace and security.”
The first task of the new body is to perform a diagnosis of regional tourism legislation in order to subsequently develop proposals and carry out best practices. The basis is sustainability, accessibility and inclusiveness, according to the Cuban official, who did not expand on how this will be transferred to the national context, whose policy has been marked for decades by the exclusion and overexploitation of resources, including natural ones.
Experts in Law and Tourism from the University of Havana are working on the elaboration of the Cuban law, and the only clue about its content is that it will be “a moment of consolidation of what the country has done in tourism,” which is not exactly a good omen.
Despite the fact that the Island joined the Spanish Smart Tourist Destination program in 2023, neither of the cities that applied – Cayo Largo del Sur and Guardalavaca – have yet managed to advance in the designation. Cities that aspire to enter this category must demonstrate a high level in the five segments that are valued – governance, sustainability, accessibility, innovation and technology – to advance to the fifth and final stage. Montevideo, at level three, is among the cities in the world that are achieving this goal.
The Cuban tourism strategy, despite the repeated declarations of intentions, is still anchored in the past
The Cuban tourism strategy, despite the repeated declarations of intent, is still anchored in the past: a lot of hotel construction and an apartheid attitude towards the national tourist that is no longer a written rule but is still the usual practice.
The result had been positive until, shortly before the pandemic, things began to change. Since then, the tourism data have disappointed by leaps and bounds, and the Island has been unable to catch its breath after the pandemic. In addition, even with the excessively bad investments in relation to both the results and the money, which could have been allocated to food, health and education – the data are worsening.
In July, the last month with available figures published by the National Bureau of Statistics and Information (ONEI), 153,261 travelers arrived in Cuba, similar to the same month of 2022, but lower by 13.56% than last year, when 177,306 tourists were received. In addition, if we count since January, the number of tourists is 1,463,097 – 26,230 fewer, or 1.8% – than for the same period of the previous year, which suggests that the goal of 3.2 million for 2024 is further away than ever. The 2023 target was not met either, when 2.4 million tourists were received compared to the 3.5 million planned.
Given the evidence of a reduction in travelers from some of its traditional markets, starting with Spain and continuing with a worrying setback for Canada, which was first in numbers for decades, Cuba’s strategy has been to seek new horizons.
“Our job is to bring more Mexicans to Cuba and recover the high presence of Mexican tourists that we used to have”
This attempt frames the efforts to capture the Russians, who arrived in record numbers even before the pandemic and, to this day, continue to be among the countries with the highest growth (41% in July). The increase in Mexican travelers, which in June was already 40,146, 221% more than in the same period of the previous year, has not gone unnoticed by the authorities of the sector.
Hence, the regime has pulled out all the stops to continue attracting citizens of the neighboring country, for which it has reserved an online visa program making it possible to obtain the document up to 72 hours before the trip, for a cost of 575 Mexican pesos, about 29 dollars.
The Cuban ambassador to Mexico, Marcos Rodríguez Costa, presented the tourist strategy in the country, stating that the Island, despite the difficulties, “is more than ready to offer an unforgettable experience, full of flavors, colors and a great diversity of places to discover, both on its beaches and in its vibrant cities.”
Aeromexico, Viva Aerobus and Magnicharters connect both countries, and Mexicana de Aviación also plans to fly to Cuba, according to the ambassador, after a meeting at the end of August with the company’s executives.
“Our job is to bring more Mexicans to Cuba and recover the high presence of Mexican tourists that we used to have,” said Rodríguez Costa. However, Mexican media specialized in tourism have echoed the debacle of the sector on the island. This Thursday, Preferente points out in a note entitled “Tourism for the Dominican Republic, Cancun and Cuba,” that the three main destinations in the Caribbean have recorded an “uneven first half of the year, with the enclave that covers Punta Cana at the head, in contrast to the Island, whose tourist axis is located between Havana and Varadero.”
The Dominican Republic has, it emphasizes, an outstanding year-on-year growth of 11%, compared to the 5.4% expected by Quintana Roo, which they consider poor. Cuba’s data, however, are in negative territory.
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
