CubaPLUS Magazine

International tourism will restart operations in Cuba as part of the second post-covid-19 phase, announced Tourism Minister Juan Carlos García Granda during his appearance in the Mesa Redonda radio-television program, broadcast this Wednesday. During his intervention in that program, accompanied by ministers of the portfolios of Internal Trade, Transportation, as well as the head of the General Customs of the Republic, García Granda detailed the hygienic sanitary measures to rule that sector. He explained that among the measures planned for the second phase post-pandemic, one of the most significant is the restart of operations with international tourism in the hotels of keys Cayo Largo, Cayo Coco, Cayo Guillermo, Cayo Cruz and Cayo Santa María, always guaranteeing the isolation of the population. The Gaviota, Cubanacán and Gran Caribe hotel groups will begin operations in a coordinated and gradual manner depending on the demand and circulation of vacationers. This, he added, will only occur within the keys, where they have booked their reservations, where excursions will be offered and the nautical activity and operations in the international marinas of the approved tourist poles will be reactivated. He also explained that in this second phase, calculated to begin next July, car rental will begin, but driving will be limited inside the keys reserved for international tourism. In this phase, the sanitary measures of the first phase will continue to be observed and others will be added, such as carrying out the PCR test upon arrival of visitors to the country, while the movement of tourists can only be within the limits of the resort where they are housed, there will also be 24-hour clinical-epidemiological surveillance in the hotel facilities and conditions will be created for the isolation of tourists with respiratory symptoms. In addition, the tourism official informed that in the third phase all hygienic-sanitary requirements established from the first phase will be maintained, although full commercialization of the entire destination with tour operators and agencies will be activated and circuit operations will be restored, limited to a certain number of clients