Yesterday the Ministry of Tourism (Mintur) announced Cuba’s new tourism statistics for first half of the year. Approximately three million tourist have visited this year despite the United States government attempts to thwart tourism to the Caribbean Island.
Although tourist numbers were down in the first quarter of 2018 (perhaps influenced by the hurricane of the previous September), there has been a steady increase in visitors over the same time period last year.
As the high tourist season approaches (November 1), this year’s final tourism stats are expected to beat last year’s numbers once the cold winds start blowing in the northern countries.
Cuba’s visitors hail mainly from Canada, the usual European markets (France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia and Spain), Central America, Mexico, Argentina and Chile. Nothing appears to be stopping the increasing number of Americans from visiting the Island. American tourists are still flocking to Cuba’s shores via flights and cruises. Last year, approximately 1.07 million Americans arrived in Cuba, a 71% increase from the previous year.
The total number of international arrivals to Cuba has been increasing since 1996. In 2016, almost 4 million tourists visited Cuba. That number increased to 4.7 million people in 2017.
In January of this year, Cuba collected the FITUR 2018 prize for excellence in tourism safety at the 38th edition of the International Tourism Trade Fair 2018 (FITUR) in Madrid. Cuba continues to be seen by the global tourism market as a safe, peaceful and healthy tourism destination.
Zoe Veraz is a content writer, freelance journalist and regular contributor to the Cuba Business Report.
