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Cuba on course for best tourism year in a decade

Xinhua, September 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Cuban tourism industry is continuing to grow, making local authorities to believe that 2015 could be the strongest year in a decade for tourism on the island.

According to statistics published Wednesday by the National Office for Statistics and Information (ONEI), Cuba received almost 2.2 million tourists in the first seven months of this year, a 17-percent rise over the same period in 2014.

While Canada, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Mexico maintained their positions as the main countries to visit Cuba, visitors from Japan, Turkey and the Philippines rose sharply.

Furthermore, many American tourists are seeking to visit the "forbidden" island, since President Barack Obama lifted some of the restrictions concerning visits to Cuba.

Experts expect that around 150,000 Americans will visit Cuba in 2015, up from around 91,000 in 2014.

However, domestic tourism should not be discounted. Narciso Sotolongo, deputy director of sales for the Spanish Melia Hotels chain, said that around 80,000 Cubans have visited its 27 properties on the island, marking a 35-percent increase over last year.

"Cubans are not only staying in standard hotels, they have been choosing the best hotels in our chain," she added.

In 2008, the government of Raul Castro ended regulations that prevented residents of the island from enjoying its hotels and other tourism destinations.

Cruise ship activity has also skyrocketed, with 174 ships bringing 62,183 passengers to the island between January and May.

With the Cuban Ministry of Tourism expecting a total of around 3.2 million visitors to the island this year, it has sought to set up more attractions, such as golf courses and marinas, and increase the number of international-standard hotel rooms to 85,500 by 2020. Endi