Madrid/Russia has gone from being the most attractive tourist market for Cuba due to its growth to one of the biggest failures, due to its rapid collapse. According to the latest available data, as of August 31, 80,553 travelers had arrived from that country, 40% less than in the same period of the previous year, when there were already 132,927. Despite such a disaster, a new air route between Moscow and Holguín will begin on October 29.
The provincial press announced this Monday the reopening of the bridge between both cities, the result of the collaboration of the operator Pegas and the airline Nordwind. The route had already made two previous attempts, the first in December 2017when they arrived on the Island, bound for the tourist center of Guardalavaca, 312 passengers.
“We prepare more than a dozen guides who are fluent in the Russian language and we designed a portfolio of specific optionals for this segment, with priority on maritime and nature activities; in addition to overnight to Gibara and Santiago de Cuba and excursions to different places of interest, including a visit to the Historical Complex of Birán and the Salto del Guayabo,” a spokesperson for Viajes Cubanacán said exultantly.
The route had already made two previous attempts, the first in December 2017, when 312 passengers arrived on the island, bound for the tourist center of Guardalavaca.
They were better – much better – times for the sector, which in 2018 achieved a record number of 4.7 million foreign visitors. The enthusiasm led to the creation of a second route between the Russian capital and the City of Parks, this time with the tour operator CoralTravel, already in 2019. That year, the Russian market began to show signs of exhaustion and its travelers mainly opted for the Dominican Republic, better supplied than a Cuba that was entering that period of blackouts called “conjuncture” by the president, Miguel Díaz-Canel and which has shown be so structural that it has been in effect for five years and getting worse.
The Moscow-Holguín routes were suspended, like all of them, due to the pandemic, although they were later reopened and gave way to renewed hope in the Russian market, which European sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine had done a lot of damage. Among them, the impossibility of the country’s planes flying over European soil forced them to modify, and thus lengthen, flight times, which translate into higher costs.
Cuba then emerged as an ideal destination, also promoted by the authorities of both countries. Thus, and in the face of strong growth in 2023, it was projected for 200,000 Russians to arrive on the Island in 2024. The milestone was not achieved, but since it was close – 181,000 –, the minister of the sector, Juan Carlos García Granda, postponed the magical figure to 2025 again. Nothing could be further from the truth: since the year began, visitors to the Eurasian country have been falling most months, even falling by half on some dates.
Last week the signing between Gaviota and the Cosmos Hotel Group for the management of the five-star Sierra Cristal Hotel was announced.
However, the authorities have not given up their efforts. In the last edition of the Madrid International Tourism Fair (Fitur), the Cubanacán Hotel Group signed the agreement by which Russians will return to Holguín from now on, if they wish.
The president of the chain, Gipsy Hernández, then said that flights with capacity for more than 400 passengers would arrive at Frank País International Airport.
In addition, last week the signing between Gaviota and the Cosmos Hotel Group was announced for the administration of the five-star Sierra Cristal Hotel, located on the El Ramón de Antilla Peninsula, north of Holguín. The establishment, with 640 rooms, will be named Sierra Cristal by Cosmos Hotels.
