MIAMI, United States. – This Friday, the International Group of Tour Operators and Travel Agencies Havanatur SA received the first flight of the autumn-winter 2024 season from the Russian oil company Rosneftin which 374 passengers arrived on the Island for health tourism purposes.
The flight, operated by Nordwind Airlines, landed at the “Juan Gualberto Gómez” International Airport, in the province of Matanzas. The visitors stayed at the Varadero resort.
Tourists will spend two weeks on the Island focused on improving their quality of life. Havanatur stressed that its goal is to increase the number of tourists from the Rosneft company compared to previous years.
These health tourism programs were designed under a concept that seeks to offer a “better quality of life,” according to the press release issued by the agency and cited by official Cuban media.
Tourists participating in these programs will enjoy a variety of activities including outdoor exercise, excursions, medical checkups and events related to environmental care. These elements are part of a policy focused on “health, quality and well-being for life”, under the motto “Live More”.
Havanatur also indicated that it seeks to consolidate its efforts in this modality by 2025, with the intention of expanding this type of tourism to other markets and destinations in Cuba. The agency highlighted that the conditions of the Island are “conducive to its promotion due to its uniqueness.”
In June 2023, it emerged that more than 1,200 Rosneft workers would rest and undergo medical check-ups on the Island. This was announced then by the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Gerardo Peñalver Portal.
“There is a very important possibility of expanding so-called corporate and health tourism. For example, it was agreed that in the second semester more than 1,200 workers from Rosneft, Russia’s leading oil company, will come to rest and undergo a medical check-up, a very interesting modality that boosts the Cuban tourism industry,” Peñalver Portal said, quoted as saying. for the Presidency of Cuba.
The official also said that the execution of the almost 30 agreements signed within the framework of the XX Session of the Intergovernmental Commission for economic-commercial and scientific-technical collaboration between Cuba and Russia, held in May 2023 in Havana, was promoted.
“Very significant sectors such as energy, tourism, health, transportation, and even banking and finance, were addressed in this visit carried out in a context of expanding and strengthening ties with the friendly nation, particularly economic and trade,” said the first vice minister of Foreign Affairs.
