Tourism, a locomotive on the move in central Cuba

The fact that the Jardines del Rey International Airport in Cayo Coco has operated without interruption during the last two years proves that tourism in the province of Ciego de Ávila has not stopped despite an adverse epidemiological situation.

Airport director Mario Hernández Rivero reported that they received more than 190,000 inbound travelers in 2021 and serviced around 1,100 aircraft. Although these figures are a far cry from those of the best years of this sun and beach destination, they reveal the commitment of the workers’ collective and how much they observed the health protocols, to the point that the entity never had a cluster of COVID-19 cases and even managed to inject some 270 million pesos to the economy.

They made the most of the hotel lockdown to make repairs, train the airport workers and implement actions to improve the ecosystem.

This year was crucial to strengthen the infrastructure through the rehabilitation of the bridges along the causeway joining the key to the mainland for the sake of greater security during transportation operations. There were also investments in hotel development, including objects like hydraulic facilities, a desalination plant and a pipeline.

As the engine of the economy, tourism kept other no less important sectors active and created hundreds of jobs throughout the year. In recent months, as borders reopened, a number of lodgings have gradually started to operate depending on the growing demand of foreign and domestic vacationers.

Some 25 economic entities in the region are emerging as suppliers of food and other services, including enterprises that always marketed their products in Cuban tourist destinations and local projects and mini-industries that seek to position their goods and make foreign currency to buy consumables and equipment.

With some 10,000 rooms in 22 hotels, Jardines del Rey expects a growth of more than 50% in the winter season, which confirms the preference of the Canadian market and the sustainability of other traditional markets such as Russia.

With the resumption of tourism, airlines such as Transat will fly again to the region five times a week, Air Canada (seven weekly flights), and Sunwing, Webjet, Hola sol and Caribe sol with two flights each, whereas other operations from Russia and Cancun will continue.
Undoubtedly, not only is the so-called locomotive of the economy on the go in the province of Ciego de Avila, it also creates growth and development opportunities for many other sectors.