Cuba's tourism trade cooling off

Cuba's tourism trade cooling off
Visitors from Spain down 45 % after firm sold to Americans
Mar 15, 2007 04:30 AM
Marc Frank Reuters news agency

HAVANA–Comparatively high prices, an unusually warm winter in Europe and
the sale of a Spanish tour company to a U.S. competitor are hurting
Cuba's tourist trade this year after a 3.6 per cent decline in 2006,
travel industry sources said yesterday.

The communist country's economy relies heavily on tourism for
foreign-currency earnings that totalled $2.4 billion (U.S.) in 2006.

The number of tourists arriving in Cuba dropped 7 per cent in January
and 13 per cent in February, compared with the period last year,
according to preliminary official figures.

January through April are the high season in Cuba, so it will be
difficult to meet this year's goal of 8 per cent growth, hotel
executives said.

Visitors fell to 2.2 million last year from 2.3 million in 2005, the
Cuban government said.

It was the first drop since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United
States hurt the travel industry worldwide in 2002.

The number of visitors from Canada, Cuba's largest source of tourists,
dipped 2 per cent in the first two months of this year, figures showed.

But it was European tourism that dropped the most, with declines of 10
per cent to 20 per cent in the number of visitors from Italy, France and
Germany, and a 45 per cent decline from Spain.

Cuban officials said the drop in Spanish tourists was due to the sale of
tour operator Iberojet and cruise operator Pullmantur to American
companies that closed their business with Cuba to comply with U.S.
sanctions.

"Europe is having a relatively warm winter, so there are less people
getting away from the cold," added Oscar Gonzalez, Cuba's deputy
minister of tourism.

Gonzalez said high fuel costs had reduced long-distance travel in some
European countries.

He added that Cuba was lowering its prices with European tour operators
to compete with cheaper resorts elsewhere in the Caribbean.

Tour operators complain Cuba lost its competitive edge when it revalued
its currency by 8 per cent in 2005.

Cuba expanded its hotel capacity to 44,000 rooms last year, about half
administered by foreign companies such as Spanish chain Sol Melia,
France's Accor and Jamaica's Super Clubs.

American tourists are barred by U.S. law from visiting the Caribbean
island nation.

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