Cuba needs more than 300,000 tourists before the end of the year to meet its plan of 1.7 million international travelers expected by 2022.
According to official data from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) 1,377,253 were received by November Tourists and government projections for the rest of the month More than 320,000 foreigners are said to visit the country.
Although Cuba received 1,122,122 more international visitors than in the same period last year, which is 587.6% of the value achieved in 2021, not exceeding the more than four million visitors who arrived in 2019.
This year, the visitors that Cuba received came mainly from Canada, from the “Cuban community abroad”, from the United States, Spain, Germany, Russia, England and others.
Despite the fact that the sector has gradually recovered since the travel crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic that began in 2019, the numbers are still tiny and the government’s forecasts had to be revised as they realized they were falling short of the original plan would come close 2.5 million tourists.
Until October, the government had stuck to its original forecast, but only for this month 1,198,402 visitors cameAlejandro Gil Fernández, Minister of Economy and Planning, announced that they have readjusted the figures and that in the new plan they have estimated the arrival of more than 1.7 million
The ailing tourism sector has not fully recovered, although it has opted for alternatives such as health tourism, ecological tourism, cultural and historical routes, among others, to attract customers.
However, for the next year, the Cuban government forecasts an estimate of almost three million tourists, even if analysts criticize the lack of objectivity, especially because the economic crises of many countries that send visitors to Cuba are ignored.
For the expert Elías Amor, the success of tourism in Cuba depends on the government changing the way it is managed and liberalizing it to involve the private sector more, as is the case in other countries in the region, such as the Dominican Republic case is. However, even if the numbers are worrying, the government is still taking no action to change the situation.