Cuba expects 5 mn tourists in 2018

Web Desk

Photo Courtesy: Cubatravel

Cuba, the largest island in the Caribbean, is all set to achieve new record in tourism by receiving five million foreign visitors this year. “2018 will be the year of the five million tourists. It will also be a year of major investments,” says Manuel Marrero, Minister for Tourism.

The government’s 2030 tourism development plan foresees building 224 new hotels and expanding another 32 establishments with high occupancy rates, to boost visitor numbers. Cuba’s tourism industry currently offers 68,000 hotel rooms, and the plan calls for raising that figure to 103,000. In 2017, around 4.7 million tourists visited Cuba, 16.5 per cent more than the previous year.

Photo Courtesy: Cubatravel

Though Donal Trump’s new policies are hurting the business relationships between the two countries, Cuba registered a tourism growth of around 200 per cent in 2017 if US tourist arrivals are to be considered. Cuban Chancellor Josefina Vidal tweeted that more than one million Americans travelled to the island, which represents a growth of 191 per cent compared to the previous year.

Moreover, ‘Fodor’s No List 2018’ also have Cuba in its list, which says that the new rules from the Trump administration are complicated and the illness reported among American embassy workers in Havana is also reported worrisome. Let’s hope Cuba withstands all these tumultuous times and easily achieve its target of 5 million tourists in 2018.