SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, Mexico.- Officials of the Cuban regime were invited to the Observatory of Law of the Tourism of the Americas and the Caribbean, which began this Wednesday at the organization’s headquarters in Montevideo, Uruguay.
The legal director of the Cuban Ministry of Tourism (Mintur), Juan José Álvarez, is representing the regime to “contribute” the island’s experience in the field of tourism.
In an interview with Latin PressThe official said that the Observatory, the first of its kind in the world, is part of the work of UN Tourism in the region.
“Cuba will present the values that underpin its tourism policy, based on peace and security,” he said.
He also explained that in a first stage the Observatory will carry out a diagnosis regarding the legislation of the tourism in the area, in order to promote legal proposals and best practices.
Álvarez pointed out to the official press that in Cuba they are preparing a draft Tourism Law, which includes “various experts, among them from the Faculty of Law and Tourism of the University of Havana.”
The draft bill is due to be voted on in December 2025, according to the schedule approved by the National Assembly of People’s Power. However, no details were provided on the possible topics that the law would address.
In this regard, he considered that the approval of the legislation will be “a moment of consolidation of what the country has done in the area of tourism” because, he emphasizes, they have “made progress” in the areas of tourism law.
For this year, the Cuban regime planned to improve customer service, because your opinionaccording to the government, would help reverse the “smear campaigns” against Cuba.
Beyond the conspiracy theories that regime officials insist on justifying the tourism crisis, this sector is far from the levels it had before the coronavirus pandemic.
Although 800,000 were received in 2023 tourists more than the previous year, the figures remain far from those of 2018 and 2019.
According to They admitted sector officials in the television space of the Round Tablesome problems continue to affect the influx of travelers to the Island.
Referring to the “obstacles” that, in a triumphalist tone, they claim must be overcome, the Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García Granda, mentioned that the quality of customer service must be improved, “so that their opinions are the main weapon to reverse the defamatory campaigns against Cuba.”
According to him, the main problems are due to the low availability of financial resources, which affects the promotion of the destination and the visibility of the tourist product. Other problems, such as the limitations on Cuban airlines, prevent more excursions and tourist circuits. Added to this is the high price of fuel, he said.
Priorities
The sector is one of the priorities on the island, as demonstrated by the Cuban regime’s investment portfolio.
The regime Cuban doubled the investment in hotels and restaurants during the period between January and June 2024. Everything indicates that the Cuban government continues to bet on the hotel industry even though it is far from meeting its forecasts for the sector.
During the same period, that figure rose to 4,931 in 2024, an increase of 112%.
In the area of business services, real estate and rental activities, which includes the construction of hotels, 11.389 billion pesos were allocated, 26.4% of the total budget.
Hotels and restaurants (11.4%) and the previous sector (26.4%), followed by the manufacturing industry (19.5%), account for more than 50% of total investments.
However, Cuba received a total of 1,463,097 between January and July travelers international, a figure lower than that of the same period of the previous year, although they continue to provide more and more resources to that area.
The number represents a 1.8% decrease compared to the arrivals recorded from January to July in 2023, according to data provided this Tuesday by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI).
