Tourism grows 4.6 pct in Cuba

Tourism grows 4.6 pct in Cuba

Published July 03, 2014 EFE



Cuba welcomed 1.67 million foreign tourists during the first six months

of this year, a 4.6 percent increase over the same period in 2013,

according to figures released by the Tourism Ministry.



"For this sector to continue contributing to the country's economic

development we must increase the quality," Tourism Minister Manuel

Marrero told a National Assembly committee.



Lawmakers said that the country needed to diversify its tourist

offerings, although quality in the sector was already high, state

television said in a report on the hearing.



In May, nearly 196,000 international tourists traveled to the island,

compared with 191,213 in the same month in 2013, according to a report

by the National Statistics and Information Office.



Canada remained the main tourist-sending nation to the island, followed

by Britain, Germany, France and Argentina.



Last year, 2.85 million travelers came to the island and, of those, more

than 1 million were Canadians, and although the government's target of 3

million visitors was not reached, it did register a modest increase of

0.5 percent.



International tourism provided Cuba with some $1.8 billion in earnings

in 2013, according to official figures. EFE



Source: Tourism grows 4.6 pct in Cuba | Fox News Latino -

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2014/07/03/tourism-grows-46-pct-in-cuba/