The Cuban Government will receive with open arms the group of travel agencies DIT Gestión, based in the Basque Country (Spain), which will hold a convention in the northern keys of the Island with around 400 professionals from May 2 to 5 and which also announced its participation in the May Day parade in Havana.
The directors of this organization refused to answer the questions of 14ymedio, arguing that they only speak “to media whose profile is touristic” and that they have nothing to do “with politics or any other interest”, but they did assure that they had the unconditional support of “all the parties involved” for their organization.
This Wednesday, the president of DIT Gestión, Jon Arriaga, gave an interview to the specialized newspaper nexotur –one of the few media to which he has offered details about the “macro convention” in Cuba– in which he affirmed that the Government has given his company “all kinds of facilities.”
Among them, for example, is the promise to enable the Abel Santamaría International Airport, in Santa Clara, so that the agents can return directly to Spain, once the program is over, without having to go through Havana. Upon verifying that the island’s government was willing to give the event the green light, the company spared no expense: “We went all out with a 400-seater plane,” Arriaga explained.
Given the observation that the country chosen for the meeting has generated “many controversies,” he alleges that they thought of the Island to show his “family” of travel agents “another way of seeing Cuba.”
The manager, in response to the observation that the country chosen for the meeting has generated “many controversies,” alleges that they thought of the Island to show their “family” of travel agents “another way of seeing Cuba.”
Regarding the fact that DIT Gestión forms one of the blocks that will parade next May Day – a celebration that on the Island has nothing to do with labor rights but with public adherence to the regime – Arriaga commented that he is excited to participate as a company in what he considers “the most important holiday in Cuba”.
In addition, the manager has made the trip coincide with another crucial event to shake up the lethargic Cuban tourism industry: the Cuban Tourism Fair (FitCuba), which will be held from May 2. Arriaga revealed that, precisely, the deal to hold the convention on the island “was closed” during the days of the fair the previous year, held in Varadero. “We understand that our agents deserve this and much more,” he said.
DIT Gestión goes to the island looking for “beaches and a wonderful climate”, conditions that, Arriaga explains, they have found in the Valentín Perla Blanca hotel, in Cayo Santamaría, since “it is considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean and a destination unknown to the general Spanish tourist”, which makes this keys of Villa Clara an “ideal” destination.
“I want to highlight that this event would not have been possible without the full collaboration of Cuba-Turismo, both the delegation in Spain, as well as the Minister of Tourism, the vice minister and the entire Cuban team”
“I want to highlight that this event would not have been possible without the full collaboration of Cuba-Tourism, both the delegation in Spain, as well as the Minister of Tourism, Vice Minister [María del Carmen Orellana] and the entire Cuban team,” said Arriaga, who also included among his “thanks to the companies Valentin Hotels and Iberojet, who collaborated in the organization.
The event in Cuba will be the prelude to a major DIT Gestión convention, which will be held in November in Cádiz, Spain, and which aims to bring together more than 1,000 agents from the Peninsula, including those who traveled to the Island.
While the Basque businessmen prepare to travel to the Island, the official press has announced the visit with great fanfare, celebrating that the “Spanish tour operators” are “on the hunt” for Cuban destiny.
However, a recent opinion article published in the provincial press – the only ones that are allowed, from time to time, critical comments on reality – looked with concern at the goals of the Ministry of Tourism in 2023 and has described its strategy as “wrong “. the avileño Invader exhibited this mondaywithout ambiguity, that the sector has been failing for too long in its attempts to recover after the coronavirus pandemic.
The newspaper brought out the official data that show that more income is obtained through gastronomy than from accommodation and, nevertheless, the State invests more money in the expansion of the housing plant than in the recovery of the food sector. The most important argument is found in the occupancy of hotel beds during 2022, of only 15%, a number that contrasts with the waste of resources in the construction of new luxury hotels.
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