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No visitors hurt
• Tourist industry
reactivated, reports Minister Manuel Marrero
BY
MIGUEL COMELLAS
THE
entire tourism industry has been reactivated
following the extremely dangerous Hurricane Ivan,
and the close to 5,000 visitors who were evacuated
to places of safety have resumed their vacations
with no reports of injury or damage, reported Manuel
Marrero, the minister for the industry.
In a
conference with both the national and foreign press,
as well as dozens of tour operators at the Hotel
Nacional, the official reported that national and
international flights were resumed from Wednesday,
September 15.
He
also stressed that none of the thousands of tourist
facilities throughout the country had suffered any
serious damage, although certain locations on the
southern coast had been affected, but repaired
within a few hours.
All
the evacuees have expressed their gratitude to the
Cuban authorities for the attention received, which
included medical assistance, comfortable
accommodation, good food and indoor entertainment.
The
minister reported that up to August 30, 1.453
million tourists had visited the country,
representing a 10% increase over the same time
period in 2003.
The
majority of tourists came from Britain, Canada,
Scandinavia, Spain, Italy, France, Germany and
Mexico, amongst others.
It
is hoped that the proposed objective of two million
visitors this year will be achieved by the first two
weeks in December, he affirmed.
The
tourist industry in Cuba – with more than 40,000
beds, hundreds of hotels and diverse facilities and
employing some 85,000 professional staff – was not
damaged during the 72 hours in which the island was
touched by this hurricane with sustained winds of up
to 200 kmph and even stronger gusts, constituting
the most dangerous cyclone in the last 40 years.
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