Until the month of May, the Cuban government has obtained from tourism just over 261 million dollars of the 1,159 that it aspires to collect in this sector throughout the year, according to the triumphant estimate of disastrous data that it offered last Friday.
At the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Economy and Planning stated that, if the forecasts were met and 2.5 million foreign travelers arrived on the island, some 1,159 million dollars would be left for the Cuban economy. The figure represents about 463.6 dollars per traveler, quite far from the average declared in 2019, when spending per tourist stood at 700.
The National Office of Statistics and Information (Onei) released this Friday the tourism data for June, with the January-May range included, according to which up to that date more than half a million travelers had arrived on the Island. If they had spent the average of what the Government attributes to them, not even a quarter of the foreign exchange expected by the authorities would have arrived.
Once again, the Government is cheating by celebrating a fact that could only be spectacular compared to the dates of the pandemic, when the borders were closed
Onei’s message highlighted the strong rise in tourism compared to the same period of the previous year. “564,847 international visitors have been received until the month of May, which represents 640.3%, that is, 476,637 visitors, more than in the same period of the previous year”, but once again, the Government is cheating by holding a data that could only be spectacular compared to the dates of the pandemic, when the borders were closed.
If compared with the year 2019, the bad data is visible. In that year, the last completely normal one in terms of the movement of people, 2,286,882 people traveled to the Island until May. The drop is 75%. As for 2018, in the same period 2,159,967 arrived, -73%.
“Recent data on tourism in Cuba confirms today that the route undertaken by the authorities marks an upward march towards recovery plans for the recreation sector,” published Prensa Latina on Friday, which, in a display of optimism, estimated the figure “an evidence of the recovery path of this economic sector.”
The Cuban government agency did not stop there and considered that the forecasts of reaching 2.5 million foreign tourists “seems to be going at a good pace.” However, there are approximately 2 million visitors left to reach the planned goal and the margin is slim. Until October and, especially November, the Cuban high season does not begin, and the months of April to September usually leave the worst data.
Last May, during the celebration of FitCuba 2022, the Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero admitted that the recovery of the tourism sector had to be postponed for a yearwhich contradicted the overly optimistic comments made a few days before by the minister of the branch, Juan Carlos García Granda.
There are approximately 2 million visitors pending to reach the planned goal and the margin is small
The data is clear: in addition to the debacle that is observed when compared with dates under the same conditions, it is clearly noticeable how Russia, one of the countries that acted as a locomotive for Cuban tourism, due to how much it grew, is erased from the map .
The sanctions that the US and Europe imposed on Moscow after the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, on February 23, have blocked flights to the island from Russia, which had sent 75,977 travelers between January and June 2019, before collapsing to 37,333 for the first five months of 2022. But more serious than the total is the evolution, since in January 19,434 Russians arrived in Cuba and in February 16,437, but in March they already became 807, in April 321 and in May 334 , which supposes the practical disappearance of the only growing tourism in recent years.
All other travelers from frequent countries grow compared to 2021, but again, if compared to 2019, it is understood that foreign exchange will continue to be scarce. Canada, the largest issuer of tourists to Cuba, sent 182,733 until the end of May, while in the same period of that year they were 682,458. Or 20,963 current Spaniards compared to 50,401 three years ago, just to compare some randomly.
In the words of the Cuban economist based in Spain Elijah Love: “There is no gradual recovery of tourism, and the worst thing is that the private sector linked to this activity can no longer take it anymore”.
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