Tourism will close 2023 with a recovery in income, thanks to the arrival of some 2,450,000 visitors at the close of the year, a figure far from the 3.5 million the sector authorities had previewed.
According to Minister of Economy Alejandro Gil, the number of visitors represents a growth of 50% compared to 2022 and 64% of what was achieved in 2019.
Cuba approached 2 million international visitors at the end of October, 44.6% below what was achieved in the same period of 2019, the year before the pandemic, a report from EFE specified.
At the height of the 10 months of the year, Canada led the list of sending countries with 748,976 visitors. The northern country experienced an increase of 208.6% compared to 2022.
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The main sun and beach destinations in the Caribbean stimulate Canadian tourism, a strategy for the 2024 season.
Quoted by Prensa Latina news agency, professor and researcher José Luis Perelló mentioned Cuba as one of the main markets for recreational trips in the area, even though it is currently working on the recovery of the sector.
Also until October, the rest of the emitting countries were Russia (146,306), the United States (130,331), Spain (76,284), Germany (55,519) and Mexico (51,314), all with interannual increases of between 111 % and 343%.
For its part, the Cuban community abroad reported a growth of 111.6%, with 297,034 visitors. Meanwhile, Cuban residents on the island added 654,853 flights, bringing the total number of travelers of all nationalities between January and September to 2,591,938 people.
In the last meeting of the Council of Ministers, Gil highlighted that the total number of visitors received until the end of September represented only 75.5% of what was expected for this date and only 55% of those who traveled to the country in the same period of 2019.
Cuba reaches 2 million tourists at close of first four months of 2019
Before COVID-19, Cuba received more than 4 million tourists a year.
Tourism is a key sector for economic recovery, at a time when the country is going through a severe crisis. However, it has not yet achieved the desired takeoff, after the hard blow caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cuba received 1.6 million international travelers in 2022 and fell short of its goal of hosting 1.7 million, a figure that had been readjusted from the initial forecast of 2.5 million.
