The 17th International Seminar on Journalism and Tourism, which will be held until next Friday, opened its doors this Monday with the first talks on this important economic segment in the world.

Organized by the Union of Journalists of Cuba (UPEC) and based at the José Martí International Institute of Journalism (IIPJM) in this capital, the event welcomes 45 professionals, foreign and local, with a strong presence of Colombians and Mexicans, and experts from Canada.

Present in the welcoming remarks were the President of the UPEC, Ricardo Ronquillo, the dean of the Faculty of Communication of the University of Havana, Ariel Terrero, the vice director of the IIPJM Isabel González and the president of the organizing committee of the meeting María Alexis Rivero .

Ronquillo confirmed the satisfaction of having an important participation of Latin American colleagues in times of economic difficulties of this nation.

He explained that this is a complex situation, exacerbated by the permanent barrier measures imposed by the United States government against this island with the aim of destroying the political order and reiterating more than 200 measures to prevent development.

Attendees also received a welcome email from the president of the UPEC Circle of Tourism Journalists, Hilda Prieto, who organizes this meeting every year in June, but for personal reasons she is out of the country.

For three days, the meeting is dedicated to academic debates and updates on current trends in tourism, and later attendees will visit places of interest. Among the places to visit are the Hotel Nacional de Cuba, the Tropicana nightclub (1939), Old Havana and the Varadero resort, among other settings.

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