“Cuba is better than the Maldives. It has a unique nature, crystal clear water, the best brands of rum and the famous Cuban cigars and above all a sea of impressions. said Cuban Tourism Council for Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Georgia Juan Carlos Escalonaduring a meeting with businessmen from the industry in Kazakhstan.
At the meeting, held at the Cuban embassy in Astana on Wednesday, Escalona told EFE that he had traveled to Kazakhstan “to promote Cuba’s tourist destination”.
The meeting will take place on the same day that the arrival of Russian tourists on the island resumedafter seven months direct flights between Russia and Cuba were suspended due to Western sanctions against Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.
“Kazakhstan and Cuba are linked by very old ties and we want to take this opportunity for Kazakh tourists to visit our country.”added the Havana official.
“Tourists from Kazakhstan can reach Cuba via European countries like Germany, France, Spain. The airlines of these countries have regular flights to Cuba. You can also do this via Turkey, Istanbul as Turkish airlines offer three weekly flights. ‘ Escalona explained.
This does not exclude routes such as Moscow, which take advantage of the resumption of charter flights to Varadero and Cayo Coco.
“Before the Covid pandemic, more than 10,000 Kazakh tourists visited Cuba. Then the pandemic came and stopped everything, but we were convinced that the number would increase,” he said.
According to the EFE report, Kazakhstan is one of the largest countries in Central Asia and in its northern and central regions winters are usually long and harsh, which is why many Kazakhs travel to tropical countries where it is hot all year round.
“Travel has been restored and we expect the number of tourists to gradually increase”assured Escalona.
Havana is seeking unusual markets to attract vacationers while the island’s hotels remain at just 14% occupancyaccording to official figures, in the first half of 2022.
For this reason even The exhibiting division in Spain of the major TUI group announced a price reduction for their winter bookings to Cuba. The tour operator offers eight offers with discounts of up to 200 euros per person and package tours of nine days and seven nights with prices between 1,230 and 2,020 euros.
According to official information Cuba touched one million foreign tourists in August, numbers much lower than the same period in 2019 and well below the government’s aspirationsforecasting 2.5 million vacationers by 2022.
Against this background is paradoxical The government does not stop the construction of new hotels and devotes the largest items of the annual budget to the real estate and tourism sectors.
Likewise, In July 2022, Cuba was excluded from the Traveller’s Choice Awards, which are given out every year by the very important world travel website Tripadvisor. Nor was it among the “50 most beautiful countries in the world” selected by a study by the money.co.uk website and published by Forbes magazine.
The study was based on the characteristics that make countries “beautiful”, namely not only their landscapes but also their telecommunications services, gastronomy, health, electricity, transport, shops, entertainment and the hospitality and characteristics of their people. , Arts and Culture.
According to an analysis published in DIARIO DE CUBA, “The majority of tourists who travel to Cuba do not repeat. Disgusted with the terrible infrastructure, the problems with land and air transport and even the lack of hot water in the hotels, they leave the country. There is no point in prioritizing the number of visitors and trying to fill the hotels if the central goal in any tourism industry is not taken into account: that the visitor spends as much money as possible.”