Cuba Sees Slowdown in International Tourism

Cuba Sees Slowdown in International Tourism



HAVANA – Foreign tourist arrivals are continuing to slow, declining 1.4

percent last month compared with June 2013, Cuban official media said on

Wednesday.



Last month, 181,269 international visitors arrived on the island, 2,588

fewer than in June 2013, according to the National Statistics Office,

which says that during the first quarter of the year, foreign tourist

arrivals increased compared with the same period a year earlier.



"After an optimistic beginning of the year, the arrival of international

travelers to the country continued to decelerate," official daily

Juventud Rebelde acknowledged.



During the first six months of 2014, foreign visitors to Cuba increased

by 3.7 percent to 1.66 million, compared with 1.59 million during the

same period last year.



However, even with this growth rate it is improbable that Cuba will

achieve its objective of welcoming more than 3 million foreigners during

the year, Juventud Rebelde said.



The Cuban government acknowledged recently that the damaged national

economy this year is in a deceleration phase and that the tourist sector

is one of those that has fallen short of achieving its goals.



In an article published this week in online media, Jose Luis Rodriguez,

Cuba's former economy minister, said that the government of Raul Castro

had forecast an increase of 10.4 percent in the number of foreign

visitors for 2014.



Given the figures for the first six months of the year, however,

Rodriguez said that "it will require an extraordinary effort" in the

second half of the year to get to the 3 million visitor threshold.



He also noted the "elevated level of competition based on price" the

island is facing in the Caribbean region compared to the Dominican and

Mexican markets.



In 2013, 2.85 million travelers visited the island, a modest increase of

0.5 percent over the prior year.



International tourism brought in some $1.8 billion for Cuba in 2013,

according to official figures.



Source: Latin American Herald Tribune - Cuba Sees Slowdown in

International Tourism -

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2345770&CategoryId=14510