The Cuban authorities defined the current situation of the tourism on the island as a process with a “gradual recovery trend”, when analyzing that in the first quarter of this year 313,908 foreign tourists were received in the country, according to official data released this Tuesday.
In March alone, 128,159 international visitors arrived on the Caribbean island (the figure includes business trips and for personal reasons), well above the 12,552 registered in the same month of 2021, says a dispatch from the Efe agency.
“Each month of this year has grown compared to the previous one and April also indicates that it will be better than March,” said the Minister of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil, during a meeting of the Council of Ministers, whose review was published by official media on the Island.
During the first four months of 2021, 64,712 foreign tourists traveled to Cuba, just 6% of the 983,099 who did so in the same stage of 2020, according to the National Office of Statistics and Information of Cuba (Onei). Spanish.
Onei data managed by Efe indicates that there were 573,944 international travelers who visited Cuba throughout last year, which represented a decrease of 60% compared to 2020.
The Cuban economy would receive 1,159 million dollars if it achieves the goal set by the government of 2.5 million visitors in 2022, specifies the Spanish medium.
The Caribbean country, dependent on the entry of income from tourism, reopened its borders in mid-November after the forced closure due to the pandemic.
This sector represents the second largest item of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and its second largest source of foreign exchange earnings, according to the most up-to-date official data.
Cuba is going through a severe economic crisis due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tightening of US economic sanctions and the little effect of some of the measures taken by the government to update the country’s centralized economic model.
Other issues included in the National Plan for Economic and Social Development until 2030 were also analyzed at the ministerial meeting, “a roadmap of the main measures to guarantee compliance with the objectives and goals,” according to a report in the official newspaper Granma.
Another aspect to which special attention was devoted during the meeting was associated with the decentralization of powers based on greater autonomy of the municipalities, reports that medium.
Minister Gil also referred to the housing construction program, cargo transportation, the investment process, retail commercial circulation and the execution of the State Budget, in which there is a surplus, which is fundamentally associated with expenses that It has not been possible to execute it due to a lack of materials, Granma specifies.
To comply with the strategy, the official pointed out that it is still necessary to increase the country’s foreign exchange earnings, comply with the export plan, the gradual recovery of tourism, price control to combat the inflationary effect, and prioritized attention to communities and people in vulnerable situations.
EFE/OnCuba
