MIAMI, United States. – The journalist Sayli Sosa Barceló, from the newspaper Invader ―provincial organ of the Communist Party of Cuba in Ciego de Ávila―, criticized in a recent opinion piece the “slow” recovery of tourism on the island and the economic imbalances facing the country.
Sosa Barceló recognized that “the recovery of tourist activity in Cuba is being slow and still does not show indicators similar to those of 2018 and 2019” due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While he highlighted the growth of Canadian tourism on the island, he regretted that the same has not happened with European emitters, such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
Likewise, the journalist pointed to the low hotel occupancy rate in 2022 (15.6%) and stated that this “poor indicator” affected the profitability of the sector in the midst of an economic crisis.
While the Economy Plan approved by the National Assembly of People’s Power in December sets the goal of reaching 3.5 million international visitors in 2023, Sosa Barceló considers that the claim “is quite complicated” since “tourist activity does not depend only to have beautiful beaches and cozy hotels”.
The journalist adds that “the greatest income is not in accommodation, but in gastronomic services, with about 44% of the total collection.”
Sosa Barceló also called attention to the alert of “several economists” about “the urgency of changing the pattern of investment in Cuba, drifting towards the production of meat, vegetables, fruit, grains and root vegetables.” [en] amounts that improve the productive bases from the technological point of view”.
In her article, the journalist also alludes to “the difficulties with electricity, fuel, and financing in hard currency” suffered in the country.
Finally, Sosa Barceló acknowledges that “Cuba is at a disadvantage compared to nearby sun and beach markets such as the Dominican Republic and Mexico,” and attributes this fact to the United States sanctions.
However, he mentions that the disadvantage is also reflected in the so-called “break even point (balance point, where revenues are equal to costs, therefore, profits tend to zero)”, which confirms that in Cuba one must “invest a lot – meaning import given the impossibility of producing – to achieve that balance” .
