CubaPLUS Magazine

The largest of the Antilles will be the guest country at the Lisbon Tourism Exchange 2025 (BTL), which shows the interest of the Portuguese market in this Caribbean destination. Information released by the newspaper ¨Travel Trade Caribbean¨ adds that this fair will take place between March 12 and 16 in the capital of Portugal, where the presence of exhibitors from all over the world with their novelties is expected.

Likewise, it points out, visitors will be able to participate in thematic workshops, presentations, gastronomic tests and other initiatives associated with the leisure industry. In 2023, says TTC, the Portuguese market sent good signals to the destination Cuba by being among the main issuers of tourists to the archipelago, while last year it climbed to 11th place with the arrival of 33,724 visitors until the end of December.

Portugal, according to statements by Niurka Pérez Denis, Tourism Advisor of Cuba for Spain and the Lusitanian nation, cited by TTCl, is the only European market that is growing and surpassing the record reached in 2019 and these results have been contributed to by the first edition of the Tourist Exchange Destinations Cuba in Albufeira, Portugal, a professional tourism event with international reach that brought together in 2024 the different actors of the sector of that country and Spain.

That market, continues Pérez Denis, is to be strategic for Cuba, and our intention is to continue promoting it. In BTL 2025 we will seek to promote the increase in investment, encourage the export of services, continue strengthening the marketing of the destination, show its strengths and benefits, as well as the products and services offered to travelers who choose the island for their vacations and the possibility of making new businesses.

In this regard, it is important to remember that since last year, the Portuguese-Brazilian chain Hotéis Vila Galé began to operate its first accommodation in Cuba, the Hotel Vila Galé Cayo Paredón Grande, about 30 minutes east of Cayo Coco, in Jardines del Rey. An all-inclusive hotel located on an impressive and idyllic beach of fine, white, crystalline sand and warm, turquoise waters, with 638 rooms, five bars, swimming pools for children and adults, a spa, spaces for the youngest, event rooms and multi-sport courts.