For example, the electronic media Cubadebate, on Tuesday, published elements of interest addressed in the National Assembly of People’s Power (Parliament) of this island, on the subject.
They point out that the behavior of the tourism sector in the current year was discussed in the Commission of Attention to Services of the National Assembly of People’s Power, with the participation of Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero and the head of Tourism, Juan Carlos García.
With around 2,450,000 visitors up to October this year and a 50 percent growth with respect to 2022, tourism fell short of the 3 million visitors planned for 2023.
Among the obstacles to growth are the absence of a system approach to integrated destination management, the restriction of payment methods for services and offers, the deterioration of infrastructure to support tourism activities, the insufficient preparation of local governments to guarantee tourism management, and difficulties with human capital.
Relevant issuing countries, such as Canada, project to end the year with one million visitors.
The Russian market continues to grow, while Latin America and the Caribbean represent nine percent of the market structure and is growing 75 percent over the previous year.
Among the main commercial actions to increase the number of tourists, the insertion of new tour operators, the increase in online sales, the growth of participation in trade fairs and commercial exchanges and the implementation of actions focused on the circular economy stand out.
Manuel Marrero recalled that tourism is one of the sectors most affected by the intensification of the blockade and external actions to discourage it, and mentioned the impact of Covid-19 on the national tourism sector.
In turn, the Minister of Tourism explained that attention should not only be focused on foreign visitors, but also on domestic tourism.
The minister said that it is expected to surpass the barrier of three million visitors in 2024, when a recovery with respect to 2023 is estimated, although the challenge remains the stability in the quality of services.
He acknowledged that, although not all the expected results were achieved this year, poles that had been closed for a long time were reopened.
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