MADRID, Spain. – Cuba’s present economic crisis, marked by a shortage of food, fuel and medications, will prevent the Cuban government from reaching its goal of welcoming 3.5 million tourists projected for 2023, according to economists who spoke to the EFE news agency.
“The economy’s highly complex situation affects tourism because, for example, a tourist needs to rent a car to get around the country and he or she cannot find fuel, or, in a 5-star hotel, there are no needed supplies,” stated Cuban academician Omar Everleny.
Everleny also considered that “it is necessary to invests in a competitive non-hotel industry, because if tourists only spend money inside the hotel, the facility’s revenue will be minimal.”
Expert Carmelo Mesa-Lago indicated that an increase in tourism for the present year would be propelled principally by Canadian travelers, and these tourists come to Cuba mostly during tourism high season due to the cold Canadian winters. This means that the presence of this group will decrease substantially during low-season.
Russian tourism, another great hope of the regime, will continue to be affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, added Mesa Lago, Professor Emeritus of Economics and Lain American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh.
Meantime, Elías Amor stated that the month of March that just ended, tourism activity was at “40% below the levels achieved in 2019, the last normal year before the pandemic.”
“Growth achieved in 2022 is based on very low levels of activity,” he added.
With this outlook, the economy will continue to be affected, since Tourism is one of the main sources of income for the Cuban state “in order to implement programs and operations, thus reducing the potential for economic growth.” This, added to “a bad definition of tourism policy” in the country.
In their statements to EFE, given in the context of the International Tourism Fair that starts today, experts also mentioned the Cuban government’s non-stop construction or restoration of hotels.
“It makes no sense to continue investing so much in tourism and so little in agriculture, whose disastrous performance makes Cuba import 2 billion US dollars per year,” stated Mesa-Lago.
Last year, Cuba welcomed 1.6 million tourists, a number far below the 2.5 million that the regime projected.
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