The first hotel facility “pet friendly” in Cuba will open at the Villa Tortuga hotel in Varadero, according to Diana Beatriz Olivera Rodríguez, Commercial Vice President of the Gran Caribe Hotel Group.
The statements were offered to the site TTC (Travel Trade Caribbean) during the 43rd edition of the International Tourism Fair, FITUR 2023, and are good news for travelers who love animals and pets.
Many places adopt this business concept to give spaces to pets under demanding rules, including: wearing an identification collar, being vaccinated and strict supervision by their owners.
The “pet friendly” movement is a global phenomenon and more and more companies around the world are joining it. The initiative, not without controversy, has been implemented for decades in the United States, Great Britain and Australia.
Other tourist news for 2023
Diana Olivera Rodríguez also announced that by the end of winter and near summer a club for young people over 21 years of age will be open at the Kawama hotel, also in Varadero, especially aimed at this age group with services inside and outside the hotel.
Another purpose is to transform Cayo Largo del Sur into the “first Smart Tourist Destination in Cuba and the Caribbean”, an agreement officially signed between the Gran Caribe Hotel Group and the State Mercantile Society for the Management of Tourism Innovation and Technologies (SEGITTUR). of Spain during the Fair that is held in Spain until January 22.
The Island Government intends to reach 3.5 million international tourists this year. In 2022 the prospects were far from the forecast of 2.5 million visitors.
Cuba aspires to 3.5 million tourists in 2023 despite its “limitations”
Tourism Minister Juan Caros García Granda said that the country “is prepared for the more than 4 million that it always had in recent times,” although he acknowledged that for Cuba it is more complicated due to all the limitations imposed by the United States government.
Cuba has the tourism industry as one of the life preservers for its economy, dominated by a long and exhausting crisis in recent years. In this, among several essential structural causes, the COVID-19 pandemic was decisive.