Cuba: Tourism Continues on the Rise in First Half of 2016

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 7(can) At the end of the first half of this year Cuba reached the figure of two million 147,600 visitors, representing an increase of 11.7 percent compared to the same period of 2015, informed Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero.

In the presence of the members of the Commission for Assistance to Services of the National Assembly of the People's Power (ANPP) at Havana's Convention Center, Marrero spoke about the progress of the so-called leisure industry, a strategic sector for the country's economic and social development.
According to the Minister, the highest increases in arrivals occurred in visitors from the United States (83.9%), Spain (69%), Italy (60.5%), Poland (45.1%) and Germany (42%).
Among markets decreasing in a cumulative way he mentioned Canada, a traditional leader among nations sending the largest amount of tourists to the archipelago.
In the face of a growing rise in the number of travelers, the minister said Cuba is still immersed in improving and updating its offers, aware of the potential the destination has but also of the deficiencies yet to be solved.
The expansion of the accommodation capacity of the country is one of the priorities of the sector, for which he said the alliance between state and private sectors -where more than 16,000 rooms and over 1,700 restaurants are found- is promoted.
He described as very good the policy approved to develop non-state tourism to complement the official offer, the implementation of which has had favorable results, although not devoid of difficulties.
According to Marrero, at the end of 2015 tourist agencies hired about 4,000 workers of the self-employment sector, which made it possible to accommodate some 555,000 visitors in their facilities.
With 2.8 billion dollars contributed to national coffers, tourism was consolidated in 2015 as the second source of income in Cuba.