CubaPLUS Magazine

This November 20th, Cuba celebrates Tourism Day, a date instituted in 2019 by presidential decree to pay tribute to all those people and institutions that accompany or intervene in the development of this important economic sector of the island.

Today is exactly 65 years since the creation of the National Institute of the Tourism Industry (INIT) by the historical leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro, when he held the position of Prime Minister, and at that time he also took over the direction of the nascent organization.

From that moment on, the country's authorities began the path towards the promotion of this sector that they considered and consider fundamental for the national economy and as a way to show the beauties of the largest of the Antilles, as well as traditions and culture, in general.

Currently, despite the difficulties that the country faces due to the consequences of the pandemic and mainly due to the economic blockade imposed by the United States, Cuban tourism is recovering, thanks to the hard work of the authorities and, of course, of all the workers in this sector who every day give their greatest efforts to achieve a better tourism.

Tourism, considered the driving force of the Cuban economy, occupies second place among the sectors of the sector, and continues to work efficiently to offer tourists who choose Cuba as a vacation destination in the Caribbean a better product every day.

To this end, Cuba has a renovated hotel complex that exceeds 80 thousand rooms, 75% of which are in 4 and 5 star hotels, to which the presence of 18 internationally recognized foreign chains in hotel management contributes, of which 9 are Spanish.

In addition, it has beautiful beaches, including Varadero, the main sun and beach destination on the island, which this year is among the 10 best in the world according to the traditional Tripadvisor survey.

Natural beauty is another of the wealth that the island has for tourism with important sites such as Topes de Collantes, very close to the city of Trinidad, the Ciénega de Zapata, in Matanzas, the Viñales Valley, in Pinar del Rio and the Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, in Holguín, all places worth visiting and where the care of nature is essential.

Finally, culture is one of the important values offered to tourists, as it goes back to our ancestors, where races and customs converge in a process of several centuries, which gave rise to a unique culture that shows African, Aboriginal, Chinese, and French traits, and which this year led to the island being declared the Leading Cultural Destination of the Caribbean.

All of this reflects the great work carried out by men and women who for years have been linked in one way or another to tourism, without them something like this would have been impossible. I send everyone a big congratulations on this important day.