More than 1,298,000 international visitors arrived in Cuba.
A little more than 1,298,000 international visitors arrived in Cuba at the end of the first semester of this year 2023, 45 percent of them from Canada, the main source of tourism to the island, José Luis Perelló, PhD in Economic Sciences, published in his Facebook account.
However, the specialist in Tourism Development and Planning assured that the preliminary accumulated figures indicate a 50.6 percent in relation to the same period of 2019, the year prior to the crisis caused by Covid-19, a pandemic that impacted the world travel industry by paralyzing the flow of vacationers.
«The recovery of Canadian tourism reached 80.3 percent with respect to 2019, by reporting 583,25 tourists,» Perelló said, referring to arrivals from the northern nation, an issuer that considers Varadero, Cuba’s main sun and beach destination, as its home.
The professor said that 70 percent of the total accumulated arrivals are represented by Canada, Cubans living abroad (176,349), the United States (82,280) and Russia (67,615), a market that should show a better performance as of July 1 with the resumption of direct flights from Moscow.
In the case of traditional European markets, he described arrivals as relatively low, due to the non-recovery of long-distance trips from the old continent and the uncertainties resulting from the restrictions of the European Union, influenced by the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Spain (36,712), Germany (37,901), France (31,537) and the United Kingdom (28,345).
He also illustrated the statistics of Latin American countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Venezuela, which brought 75,146 tourists. In Perelló’s opinion, the announcement of new air routes to Cuba as of July 1 will increase the prospects of arrivals from that region.
«The number of arrivals by sea is not significant, 24,022 visitors, as a result of restrictions from the United States, which is the main issuer of cruises and yachts in the Caribbean».
Written by Eva Luna Acosta Armiñán.
