Cuba’s Commercial director at the Ministry of Tourism, Gihana Galindo, was quoted by TASS as saying that the new winter tourist season in Cuba lures a larger flow of vacationers from Russia.

‘The Russian market ranks third in the list of major tourist sources to our country, indicated Galindo, adding that 2023 beat the record of 2019 (before the Covid-19 pandemic).

These days the figure is approximately 185 000 visitors, said Galindo, when asked if Russians visiting Cuba in 2024 could exceed 200,000, as predicted earlier this year by local authorities. “It all depends on an increase of flights between the two countries”, she replied.

Citing the main challenges the Cuban tourism industry faces to better tend to visitors from Russia, she mentioned training the local staff in the use of the Russian language.

Tourism is one of Cuba’s main sources of income for Cuba.

As previously reported by Cuba’s National Statistics and Information Office, more than 112 000 Russians visited the island in the first six months of 2024, the third largest number of visitors from abroad.

Canada traditionally has ranked first (577, 549), with Cubans living abroad (155, 320) running second.

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