Cuba's top destinations strengthen position

Thursday, February 19, 2004

TORONTO, Canada: The year 2003 was a successful one for the two most important developing tourist destinations in Cuba, Holguin and Jardines del Rey, which consolidated their positions as the third and fourth most popular tourist destinations within Cuba, by achieving their best results in history, following Havana and Varadero. 

According to a recent report by Travel Video, Holguin grew by 30.7 percent in tourist arrivals, 45.37 percent in hotel accommodations, 39.0 percent in revenues, and 74 percent in profitability, but figures for the revenues and profits were not officially released.

In 2003, Holguin received 184,609 tourists arriving mainly from Canada, Germany, the U.K., Italy and Switzerland, and 1,475 new rooms were added during the same period, increasing the total available hotel accommodations to 4,780 rooms after the opening of the Playa Pesquero hotel, the largest Cuban hotel, with 944 rooms and the opening of Grand Occidental Playa Turquesa, with 531 rooms.

The total number of tourist days in Holguin added up to 1,347,649, with a combined client satisfaction rate in excess of 90 percent, besides the fact that costs were reduced and revenues increased per tourist, as well as average length of visit.

Jardines del Rey, which includes Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo, outdoing all previous results, during which revenues exceeded $100 million and reached $106,800,000, with over $14,000,000 increase over 2002, when revenues were $92,500,000 and profits mounted to $20,600,000, a figure that had never been achieved previously. 

A total of 171,000 foreign tourists, mainly from Canada, the U.K. and Germany visited Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo, in comparison with 164,000 in 2002, when the hotel occupancy rate was 49 percent in 2002, and 56percent in 2003.

A key issue for the success of the figures, was the opening of the new airport in Cayo Coco, which received 132,000 tourists, with an average of 18 flights per week.

Jardines del Rey has 3,300 rooms and 11 hotels all fronting the ocean.

It is this destination, which will be the focus of the next tourism convention, Cuba 2004, which will be celebrated from May 3 to the 6th in Varadero, as part of a strategy to strengthen the main tourist areas of the country.

Holguin was the focus of the last tourism convention, which took place in Varadero, and obtained a quality award, given for the first time.

  Back...

  Most popular articles: viewed, printed and e-mailed

  Printable version