Over 2 Thousand Participants from 100 Countries at Cuba’s Habano Cigar Festival

Havana, Feb 27 (ACN) Over 2 thousand professionals and cigar lovers from 100 countries of the world are attending the 31st Habano Cigar Festival running till Saturday in the Cuban capital after two years of COVID-19 restrictions.

This year the festival is dedicated to the renowned cigar brands Montecristo, Bolivar and Partagas and will include the traditional visits to local cigar-rolling factories and tobacco-leave plantations in the province of Pinar del Rio.

The festival’s trade fair was opened Monday by Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and other top government Cuban officials and with the participation of 260 exhibitors from 11 countries whose stands deploy a large array of products and services linked to the cigar world.

The presentation of three new products during the event will be special occasions; they will be the cigar shapes known as Montecristo Open, Bolivar New Gold Medal and Linea Maestra. The final gala on Friday will auction exclusive cigar humidors, and the money collected will be destined to the Cuban public health system.

Habanos S.A., the distributor of Cuban cigars around the world, reported 2022 sales at over 454 million dollars, standing for 2 percent increase with respect to the previous year; however, the impact by the US economic blockade hindered larger sales, according to Habano authorities.

Despite this reality, Habano executives said to feel satisfied with the current cigar sales in a challenging scenario, as they have set up 157 cigar shops around the world thus expanding their trade network.