For More Quality and Efficiency, Third National Conference of the Tourism Union in Matanzas.

The influence to achieve greater quality and efficiency in the leisure industry in Matanzas animated the debates in the provincial meeting of the Third National Conference of the Hotel and Tourism Workers Union.

The influence to achieve greater quality and efficiency in the leisure industry in Matanzas encouraged discussions at the provincial chapter of the Third National Conference of the Hotel and Tourism Workers Union.

The new Provincial Bureau will have to overcome the results of the outgoing one. Photo: From the author.

To achieve this, many voices agreed, it is necessary that the proposals do not travel the long road of delay, where right now the workers’ transportation, in charge of the Transmetro, and the retributions from the Economic Stimulation Fund, the only mobile income to which the mixed hotels are entitled, according to the mandate of Law 118 of Foreign Investment, are detained.

In Varadero, all of them receive them, except for the Royalton Hicacos, the top winner of decorations, awards and medals in Varadero, and also of those of its kind in the country.

Other less visible issues also add up. According to the report, there are irregularities with the application of Decree 87, profit distribution regulations, payment systems, high performance retributions and structural problems that prevent the exercise of entrepreneurial autonomy.

In order to honor the representation assignment, there is no other way but to prepare oneself every day. Training must be continuous in order to demand what corresponds to administrative management, said Julio Enrique Morales Verea, general secretary of the National Union of Hotel and Tourism Workers (SNTH).

Referring to the Economic Stimulation Fund for mixed facilities, he suggested the alternative of introducing changes in the distribution regulations, until Law 118 is updated, foreseen in the legislative schedule of the National Assembly for the year 2026. «Morally we have the duty to look for a solution, the Royalton Hicacos deserves it, it has the results, the wealth created», as well as the Iberostar Selection Parque Central, in Havana, the other one that does not receive the money for this concept, he said.

Morales illustrated the advances in other collectives such as Sol Palmeras, where the dividends for this concept are very high, a conquest won and that must continue to be perfected, he warned.

Maylén Alemañy, secretary general of the provincial bureau of the SNTHT, suggested that it would help a lot to retake the twice-yearly meetings with representatives of the mixed hotels, a modality with a high presence in Varadero.

Precisely Alemañy touched on the topic of confronting indiscipline, crime, corruption and illegalities, which affect the image of the destination, deteriorate values, we lose workers and are negative manifestations with high economic cost.

Just to do more for income, efficiency, savings and quality, it is necessary to function better organically, agreed Estrella Sánchez, of the Meliá Las Antillas hotel, and Joel Báez, the non-state worker.

And the challenge lies, as was recognized, in affiliation. To achieve this, said Báez, it is necessary to link up with the base. In his opinion, it is essential that the governing body of the activity, the Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR), resumes the meetings with the owners of hostels and private houses.

Teresita Roosburgh Sotolongo, from the Villa Cuba Hotel, summed up the altruism of a sector that produces food, donates blood, supports sugar cane workers’ platoons, that appears with toys and school supplies in homes for children without family support or in special schools.

The provincial conference in Matanzas acknowledged the resilience of the men and women of an industry that has overcome the effects of the U.S. economic blockade, campaigns that affect tourist flows and the scarcity of resources to still provide the currency needed by the country with the export of services.

For this reason and more, we are proud of you, said Nastia Valdés, delegate of the MINTUR in Matanzas, praises to which Osmar Ramírez, general secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Cuban Workers’ Central.

Attentive to the development of the meeting, Justino Hernández, official of the Central Committee of the Party, reserved himself for the conclusions. It is necessary to intensify the fight in social networks and ensure a better distribution of profits, he encouraged.

The official praised the performance of the sector in Matanzas, which at the end of the first four-month period grew in tourist days, including domestic tourists, total income and occupancy, all in relation to the same period of the previous year.

Ministerial delegate of MINTUR, first on the left, dedicates heartfelt words to Maylén Alemañy. Photo: From the author.

The delegates to the Provincial Conference elected Marta Yarisleydis Torriente Sánchez as new Secretary General and paid a moving farewell to Maylén Alemañy Santos, who in the last years had an excellent performance in this responsibility.

Written by Eva Luna Acosta Armiñán.