Three million tourists in Cuba might not be a dream after all

The most recent figures on tourist arrivals in Cuba, published by the National Statistics Office (ONE) appear as a good sign following a 6.7 percent increase for August, if compared to the same month of 2013.

Following a two-month consecutive slump in arrivals, which could have thwarted the country’s goal of receiving three million foreign visitors this year, a total 199 thousand 789 arrivals in August could mean a change in the lowering trend registered previously.

Cuba has already received 2 million 071 thousand 533 vacationers, which translates into a 3.7 percent growth with respect to 2013, while the high tourist season is already at the doors with possibilities to help reach the 3-million-visit goal thanks, to a large extent, to promotional campaigns undertaken in Latin America and Europe.

Canada continues to rank Cuba’s major tourist source nearly surpassing 850 thousand visitors, followed by Germany, the U.K. and Italy. This latter country was reported as the fastest to increase its dispatches of tourist to Cuba in August, with over 12 thousand arrivals.

France and Spain were also reported with significant growth up to date, with 7.6 and 5.1 percent respectively over the figures released last year. And in Latin America, Venezuela has noticeably increased its role of tourists’ source to Cuba after recording 102 percent more in August, and with 18 thousand more visitors in the total record.

The promotional campaign known in Spanish as “Autentica Cuba” (Genuine Cuba), the presentation by local executives of Cuban tourist products in tradeshows in Spain, France and Italy, along with the encouragement of cruise ship offers could keep favoring a steady growth in the arrivals of tourists to Cuba.