{"id":236257,"date":"2021-03-17T09:38:29","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T13:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=236257"},"modified":"2021-03-17T09:38:29","modified_gmt":"2021-03-17T13:38:29","slug":"cuba-registers-95-5-drop-in-international-tourism-in-first-months-of-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/economy\/tourism-in-cuba\/cuba-registers-95-5-drop-in-international-tourism-in-first-months-of-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuba registers 95.5% drop in international tourism in first months of 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

The arrival of <\/span>tourists<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to Cuba fell by 95.5% during the months of January and February compared to the same period last year, said academic and university professor Jos\u00e9 Luis Perell\u00f3 this Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the first two months of 2021, some 35,600 international travelers arrived on the island, representing 4.5% of the 792,507 tourist arrivals at the end of February 2020,\u201d the specialist explained in an interview with the Chinese news agency Xinhua, cited by <\/span>Cubadebate<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The recovery of the tourism sector in Cuba will not only depend on the control of the <\/span>COVID-19<\/span><\/a> pandemic at the domestic level but, in Perell\u00f3\u2019s opinion, it will also be contingent on the success of the vaccination processes in Canada, Spain, Germany, England and France, the main source markets for tourists to the island.<\/span><\/p>\n

The expert also explained that the eventual return to normality of international tourism after \u201cthe hard blow\u201d caused by the health emergency depends on the recovery of travelers\u2019 income, and of the aeronautical sector.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople could be immunized and not have the income to travel,\u201d he sentenced.<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/cuba\/ministro-cubano-de-turismo-llega-optimista-a-la-feria-de-moscu\/<\/p>\n

In 2020, Cuba received just over 1,000,000 international travelers, a figure well below the 4.5 million expected before the appearance of SARS-CoV-2.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to official statistics, the island surpassed the figure of one million tourists in 1996, and reached 4.7 million visitors at the end of 2017, amid the increase in the U.S. embargo\/blockade during the first year of the Trump administration, the source said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The tourism sector represented more than 10% of Cuba\u2019s GDP before the crisis caused by the pandemic as of March 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the midst of this difficult situation, international companies based on the island have also been affected. At the beginning of March, the Spanish hotel chain Meli\u00e1 confirmed the end of the management of three of its 35 hotels in Cuba due to its \u201cfew commercial opportunities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The company explained in its 2020 Management Report that \u201ctaking into account its few commercial opportunities and the operational problems faced in recent years, in the last quarter of the year the Sol Cayo Guillermo (268 rooms), Meli\u00e1 Cayo Guillermo (301) and Sol Cayo Largo (296) hotels were disaffiliated.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Meli\u00e1 deja tres hoteles en Cuba por \u201cescasas oportunidades comerciales\u201d<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n