Cuba’s increasingly crucial tourism sector grew by 23.2 percent in the first half of 2017, according to new data from Cuba Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero. That represented a total of 2.7 million tourists compared to the first six months of 2016, driven unsurprisingly by a surge in U.S. tourism. Indeed, the U.S. market grew by … Read more
Cuba is what the travel industry would love to be if it could. If you exclude Cuban-Americans traveling to Cuba, only about 150,000 Americans (non Cuban-American residing in America) traveled to Cuba in 2015. By comparison, about 21 million Americans visited Mexico last year – and Delaware, that wedge of industrial landscape between New Jersey … Read more
The future for U.S. travel interests in Cuba seemed uncertain in recent weeks as President-elect Donald Trump hardened his rhetoric about requiring greater reforms as a condition from the Castro government to expand or even preserve the current détente orchestrated by President Obama’s historical change of policy with Cuba. Gauging the future of U.S.-Cuba relations … Read more
In the first six months of 2016, revenues from tourism in Cuba rose 15% compared with the same period last year, according to Cuban government data. The number of visitors from the U.S. soared around 80%, though from a low base. The total number of visitors to Cuba was up 11.8%. Cuba’s National Statistics Office … Read more
Discovered by Christopher Columbus in the 15th century, Cuba and the Dominican Republic (DR) share a history unlike any other in the world – and the similarities extend into common economic characteristics that today make them the topic of much discussion about how the future will unfold as Cuba’s re-integration into the global economy gathers … Read more
The Cuban tourism boom is everywhere — not just Havana. After Cuba reported significant growth in Cienfuegos, the country’s Ministry of Tourism is now reporting a record year in Jardines del Rey. The destination, which first launched as a commercial tourist destination in 1993, received more than 400,000 visitors in 2015. The increase in tourist arrivals … Read more
While Cuba is seeing an overall tourism boom, it’s not just in the capital. Havana’s surge seems to have extended to other parts of the island, with the province of Cienfuegos showing a particularly significant increase. Through the end of November, the province of Cienfuegos has reported 180,000 tourists, a jump of 26 percent over … Read more
American travel to Cuba is surging. Authorized travel by Americans to Cuba has increased by more than 50 percent this year, according to Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the United States Charge d’Affaires to Cuba. The increase has come in light of eased travel restrictions since the US-Cuba rapprochement at the end of 2014. It’s likely that … Read more
A conversation with Melia Hotels on Cuba By Alexander Britell How will the recent US-Cuba rapprochement change tourism in Cuba? And what does it mean for the hotel companies that are already operating in Cuba? To answer these questions, Cuba Journal caught up with Francisco Camps, the subdirector general of Spain’s Melia Hotels International, which … Read more
Big jump in German, French, British tourism By the Cuba Journal staff While Canada has long been Cuba’s primary tourism source market, the island is now seeing a big boost from Western Europe. Germany sent 86,638 tourists to Cuba in the first six months of 2015, up 21.7 percent from the same period in 2014, … Read more
