This country has more than 300 hotels with about 70,000 rooms, mainly four and five star hotels, spread throughout the archipelago. Photo: Latin Press
The efforts of the Cuban Ministry of Tourism (Mintur) to revitalize the travel industry may soon bear fruit, according to various criteria from experts who recently attended a meeting on the subject.
This is the almost universal opinion of 70 journalists specializing in this sector from 10 countries who were in Havana from June 19th to 23rd and, in addition to the debates, took the opportunity to find out about privileged scenarios on this island dedicated to the leisure industry. .
For example, they visited the resort of Varadero (140 kilometers east of the capital), the main resort of the island, which, together with Havana, is one of the places most often visited by those who come to this country to rest. .
More specifically, Mintur timely expressed its hope of ending this year with the attention of 3.5 million foreign visitors, bringing it closer to where it was in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic (of four million).
This country has more than 300 hotels with about 70,000 rooms, mainly four and five star hotels, spread throughout the archipelago.
However, there are still uncertainties about the actual impact of the entry of travelers, according to some voices.
However, the plans are gaining importance in such important elements as the promotion of information technologies and their relation to tourism.
Such aspects were discussed at the above meeting (XVI International Seminar on Journalism and Tourism) held at the José Martí International Institute of Journalism in Havana.
The appeal is organized every year by the Tourist Press Department of the Union of Cuban Journalists (UPEC) and on this occasion the participation of this number of communicators (they came from Panama, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, Ecuador, Canada, the United States and Cuba).
Despite the fact that the moment is difficult for the island, precisely in economic matters, due to inflation, the international trade situation and, emphatically for the authorities, the pressure of the United States on Cuba, everything seems to indicate that some tourist recipes are in place can deliver its result in a relatively short time.
The Director of Technologies and Systems of the Mintur, Pavel Pavón, and the Social Manager of the same establishment, Pedro Alejandro Cruz, attended the meeting and argued that the goal is to extend electronic communication networks to all hotels in this country and other establishments that request this.
The experts gave the lecture On the way to the digital transformation of travel destination Cuba and they realized that it is the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) worldwide.
They pointed out that there is currently one digital traveler using these tools before, during and after their vacation. Such a traveler is always connected, informed and needs fast services as well as personal care. These elements are taken care of by Cuba, as mentioned earlier, hoping to cover them all shortly.
For his part, Cuban professor José Luis Perelló spoke about the challenges facing tourism in the Caribbean, noting that changes are happening over time, indicating a new era for this economic sector worldwide.
He stressed that the Caribbean is a macro-tourism destination and therefore a multi-destination, encompassing 52 million inhabitants in 30 areas bordered by a maritime border (including Cuba).
A key aspect of his presentation was precisely that there are two related but separate issues, namely real estate and the work of travel agents, since hotels are taxed on the value of the shares of the main companies in this field.
This means that the construction companies build the hotels and the travel agencies fill them, as the expert defines it.
All of this is vital for Cuba as sun and sand remain the main form of recreation on this island and meanwhile investment in hotels continues, although the existing hotels are currently not full.
Therefore, the experts point to a vision of the future and to the prospects that can accompany the so-called travel industry, as long as the difficulties are mitigated by opportunities of which Cuba has many, such as safety, beauty of the country, etc. friendliness of its people, as well as the coincidence of the present.
(With information from Prensa Latina)