AREQUIPA, Peru – Cuban Tourism Minister Juan Carlos García Granda said Wednesday that the island’s electronic visa platform, known as Evisa, is now active.
This represents another effort by the Castro regime to revitalize a tourism sector that has not even managed to reach pre-pandemic figures.
The owner made the announcement through a publication on X (formerly Twitter), stating that “the system securely streamlines and simplifies visa application and management processes.”
La nueva plataforma de visado electrónico de #Turismo 🇨🇺 #eVisaCuba se encuentra activa. De forma segura, el sistema agiliza y simplifica los procesos de solicitud y gestión de visas. pic.twitter.com/UBjhoqqOcR
— Juan Carlos García Granda (@JuannCarlosGG) August 13, 2024
A report from Cubadebate The agency said that Evisa was launched during the Tourism Fair last May and seeks to improve efficiency and security at all stages of the visa process, from the initial application to border control of foreigners.
The official press also notes that with the platform, the Cuban government “is taking another step towards modernizing its consular system, adapting to the current needs of tourists and strengthening its digital infrastructure.”
However, despite the initiatives of Castro’s propaganda to facilitate the entry of tourists to the Island, the main source of foreign currency for the leadership of the Communist Party, Cuba received a total of 1,680,485 visitors during the first half of 2024, according to official figures from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI).
Although this number represents an increase of 101.1% compared to the previous year, it barely reflects an increase of 0.9% compared to the same period in 2023. This figure shows that the Cuban tourism sector is still far from achieving the regime’s goal of attracting 3.2 million tourists in 2024.
The negative trend has continued, with the third consecutive month of decline in the arrival of visitors international. Last June, only 134,948 tourists visited the island, compared to 154,590 in the same month last year.
To reverse this negative trend, beyond the new Evisa platform, the Ministry of Tourism is focusing on improving direct air connections to the Island. In contrast, Caribbean tourist destinations such as Punta Cana and Cancun have experienced a significant rebound in the number of visitors post-pandemic, reaching historic levels.
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