CubaPLUS Magazine

The first source market for tourists to Cuba continues to be Canada, which is confirmed with the beginning of the arrival of visitors from that country to this destination during this week. Last Friday the first group of tourists arrived at the Meliá Trinidad Peninsula hotel. Canadians who are vacationing in that facility, recently inaugurated, and according to its general director, Juan Pereira, declared to this magazine, this season he hopes that 50% of the hotel's occupancy – a total of 401 rooms – is of visitors from that North American nation.

On the other hand, last Saturday, he arrived at the Marea del Portillo tourist complex, province of Granma, the first group of Canadians, after three years of closure due to the pandemic. Regarding this, the delegate of the Ministry of Tourism in Granma, Nancy Estrada Milanés, explained that during that period she took the opportunity to execute actions planned in the investments by the territory's real estate company, with the aim of updating and renovating the hotel plant, which allowed operations to resume in a complex with more comfort, elegance and beauty, accompanied by diverse cuisine, as well as highly qualified North American professional staff.

Likewise, the International airport of that province, located in the city of Manzanillo, was the subject of many improvements, including a new image in the waiting rooms, with more adequate technical conditions, runways for landing the aircraft received maintenance and a more beautiful image was achieved in the surroundings of the terminal and in the interiors such as shops and cafes.

Until October of this year, according to the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) this destination received almost two million tourists, an increase of around 165% of registered travelers in the same period of 2022. As for Canada, until the tenth month of this year, travelers from that country reached the figure of 748,976, close to 40% of the total number of tourists who visited the island in that period. In essence, this confirms, once again, the preference of Canadians for this destination, which has become customary for almost three decades.

In that sense, during the last edition of the International Tourism Fair (FITCUBA), held in Havana, the minister of the sector, Juan Carlos García Granda, told CubaPLUS that for this winter season it is expected that the number of Canadian tourists arriving in the island exceeds that registered in 2019. “We want to bring other market segments from Canada, including young people.

We are showing the nightlife of Cuba, the diversity of offers we have in nature, physical activities and nautical activities that are very attractive to them,” he highlighted then. For Canadians, Cuba is a safe destination that offers tranquility, beautiful beaches throughout the year, an unrivaled history and culture and a friendly and kind people who always receives them with love and affection.

In essence, that is the feeling of millions of tourists in that country who have visited the island for decades, which is why they agree in affirming that Cuba is Unique!