|
Two million visitors BY ALEXIS ROJAS AGUILERA—Granma daily staff writer— RAFAEL FREYRE, Holguín.—For the first time Cuba has exceeded the total of two million foreign visitors in one year, according to Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, speaking at a special event in the Playa Pesquera Hotel in this province’s
tourist complex. He added that this year the performance of the sector has been favorable, with an 8% growth in the arrival of visitors in 2003, a figure one percent above the forecast of the World Tourism Organization for
the Caribbean region. During the event, in the presence of Miguel Díaz-Canel, member of the Political Bureau and first secretary of the Party in the province of Holguín, Marrero Cruz noted that current options in the
sector are more varied and that, in addition to the traditional beach tourism, interest is growing in cultural, historical, nature, health, and nautical modes, which make Cuba in itself a destination satisfying many tastes.
He stated that the average stay of tourists, mostly from 44 countries with Canada in the lead, increased significantly this year. He also commented on the numbers of visitors from the United Kingdom,
Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Mexico, Greece, Turkey, Japan, China and Russia, and acknowledged that many other nations are working the Cuba destination with positive results. He recalled that in addition to a higher
level of professionalism among workers in the sector, the existence on the island of 10 international airports receiving regular and charter flights has influenced those results. Despite the unjust U.S. blockade of our
country, these two million visitors received in 2004 demonstrate that Cuba is not alone, the minister observed. Hotel rooms currently stand at 41,000, and 70% of them are four- or five-star category.
|
