Cuban Tourism Minister Juan Carlos Garcia Granda explained the strengths of the smokeless industry in the country, and highlighted the success of the vaccination campaign with three vaccines that have proven to be effective.

Garcia Granda, who heads his country’s delegation at the International Tourism Fair (FITUR), scheduled to open on January 19 at the IFEMA-Madrid fair institution, mentioned some goals for 2030, such as increasing hotel capacity to 95,000 rooms and exceeding six million visitors.

During the meeting with representatives of different firms from the tourism sector in Spain, he presented ideas to increase the real estate field linked to golf courses and marinas, and mentioned the expectations in in Cienfuegos, known as Cuba’s Southern Pearl.

He mentioned other projects in Artemisa, Pinar del Rio, Holguin, Varadero, Matanzas and Havana provinces.

In response to questions, the minister said that the severe US economic blockade, tightened during the Donald Trump administration, slowed down the development of tourism in Cuba, in addition to the problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

FITUR, which will run until January 23, will be attended by 107 countries, being the Dominican Republic the guest of honor.

Other participants are Mexico, Peru, Jamaica, Barbados, Cuba, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Costa Rica and Guatemala, just to mention a few.

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