MADRID, Spain.- The arrival of tourists to Cuba was reduced by 12.2% last May compared to April. According to the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), in April 133,281 foreigners visited the Island; while in May they did 117,000.
The economist Pedro Monreal specified through Twitter that these data reflect “mainly a 32% contraction in visitors from the largest emitter (Canada)” and “the trajectory corresponds to the usual cyclical movement of tourism in Cuba.”
According to statistics, the arrival of international travelers to Cuba between January and May increased by 640% in year-on-year terms, with the arrival of 564,847 tourists. This figure includes travel for personal and business reasons.
However, this figure remains far from the predictions of the Cuban regime of receiving 2.5 million of foreign visitors during 2022.
Montreal pointed out that with this total of 564,847 tourists, there would be approximately 2 million visitors pending to reach the official goal.
3/3 With a total of 564,847 visitors received in the first 5 months of the year, approximately 2 million visitors would remain pending in order to reach the official goal of 2.5 million tourists in 2022 pic.twitter.com/rvta6OXlmV
– Pedro Monreal (@pmmonreal) June 17, 2022
The report of the National Office of Statistics and Information also reflected that so far this year Canadians are the ones who have traveled the most to Cuba (182,733); followed by Cubans residing abroad (121,285).
Compared to the same period in 2021, the increase was above 1,000%, in both cases.
Although the tourism sector, one of the main sources of foreign currency for Cuba, has not been able to recover since the opening of borders on November 15, the Cuban authorities insist on reaching their goal of 2.5 million visitors.
Last March, the Minister of Tourism of Cuba, Juan Carlos García Granda, pointed out that “one of the biggest challenges of the activity is the professionalism and quality with which the Cuban product is offered, encouraging personalized attention to the client and the improvement of language skills”.
The Cuban authorities intend to end 2022 with 84,906 hotel rooms.
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