Tourism in Cuba, wishing to innovate and grow

Cuba, a country whose most important dynamic sector is tourism, is trying in the post-pandemic era to resume the sustained growth of international vacationers by offering more diverse and quality products, in line with world trends.

Among the challenges to achieve these goals are, first of all, the increasingly aggressive measures adopted by the U.S. government as part of the blockade, which affects the obtaining of commercial and financial credits, the variation of exchange rates and the impossibility of using the dollar as a currency of payment.

To Washington's policy, which has been tightened since 2019, are added the economic effects after the outbreak of COVID-19 and the resulting dynamics.

For this reason, the President of the Republic of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz have insisted, in meetings with representatives of the industry, on strengthening partnerships between universities and companies to implement strategies towards the sustainability of the "smokeless industry".

In late 2021, Diaz-Canel said that although the challenges are great in the application of science and innovation, pillars in the Government Management System, tourism has advanced in recent years due to the design and construction of hotels, the conservation of coastal ecosystems and the use of renewable energies.

What has the Ministry of Tourism ( MINTUR) worked on to date in Science and Innovation?

As a first step, MINTUR has focused on the conceptualization and definition of strategies with the creation of a department and a technical council focused on developing these issues, Elbis Gonzalez Anzardo, an expert in Science and Innovation policy, explained to the Cuban News Agency.

The specialist noted that the newly created Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation of the aforementioned agency seeks to support the performance and organization of the activity, as well as the methodological advice of all entities in this field.

To boost its progress, we hold training workshops for specialists in the field, along with other important events such as the Science and Technology Forum, which is attended by representatives of the Tourism Branch School and other related companies, he stressed.

Also, its Technical Advisory Council was created in late 2021, which approved three programs, out of 37 presented, for execution this year: the Technological Observatory of Cuban Tourism, Issuing Markets and Development and Competitiveness of the Tourism Product.

According to the source, there are also two other plans: Elguea, a health, wellness and quality of life hotel managed by the Islazul business group; and a digital transformation model for Cuba's own lodging, by Gran Caribe.

He mentioned the signing of agreements with several universities in different parts of the country and the holding of seminars and workshops in different regions, with the participation of foreign companies Iberostar, Blue Diamond Resorts and Melia Hoteles, in order to offer competitive products.
The expert from the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation of MINTUR expressed that a decisive component points to the preparation of personnel at all levels, whether they work directly with the client, or people who work in other areas.

According to Gonzalez Anzardo, there is a joint effort with the human resources department to identify young talent, and the doctoral training program is being followed up, with 27 doctoral students currently enrolled in different programs, 25 % of whom are under 35 years of age.
How can we move forward with science and innovation towards sustainable tourism?

In the opinion of Alexander Sierra Bouzas, the Ministry's Director of Development, in recent years actions have been taken to improve the quality of the tourism product through innovation and to ensure its sustainability, minimizing the impact on the environment and local culture.
For years we have been working to remove all the structures that affect natural resources, either because they are located on top of the dune or in a protection zone, he explained.

The engineering of these actions is based on applying the life cycle of the product to determine whether it is feasible to carry out a capital repair on the property or demolish it; on the other hand, other projects are aimed at restoring the native coastal vegetation of those areas, as was achieved in the new Varadero International Hotel, which reopened in 2019.

According to the executive, they promote the use of renewable energy sources, a goal that is increasingly necessary in view of the national energy situation and the high fuel prices in the world market, without forgetting the impact of hydrocarbons on the environment.
Work is also being done on recycling, since one of the main problems today is the use of water, the reuse of waste and the substitution of plastic, so that these actions are not isolated cases of any hotel facility, he said.

For Sierra Bouzas, it is important that MINTUR and its agencies take into account objectives to diversify the modalities of tourism and offset the seasonality and implement more efficient ways of marketing the product, issues that are also aimed at sustainability, for the opportunity to earn income during the 12 months.

However, the director of Development recognizes that although progress has been made, it is necessary to take the lead in science and innovation, the only way to overcome the daily obstacles in the management of the activity and maintain the competitiveness of the destination, offering not only the traditional sun and beach product.

As Cuban tourism becomes more autonomous, it will be more sustainable and external conditions will have less impact, the expert concluded.