with a hotel occupancy of 25 percent
“Despite an investment of more than 24 billion dollars, the results show an alarming decline,” says Cuba Siglo 21
Por 14ymedio
HAVANA TIMES – The most recent report on tourism in Cuba signed by the consultant Emilio Morales, published by the organization Cuba Siglo 21 this Monday and based on the information published in the independent press, especially 14ymedio, fully summarizes the catastrophic situation of the sector that the regime’s propaganda sells as the main engine of the economy. “Despite an investment of more than 24 billion dollars in the last 15 years,” says the text, without explaining where the Government obtained those funds, “the current results show an alarming decline in key indicators such as the arrival of tourists, hotel occupancy and the sector’s income.”
On this last point, the report says that income has decreased by 61.82% in the last five years, from 3,185 million dollars in 2019 to just 1,216 million in 2023. From January to October of this year, there were 1,718,636 foreign visitors in total, although the official figure, as collected by this newspaper a few days ago, is actually 1,844,917 tourists (128,256 fewer than in the same period of 2023).
The number provided by Cuba Siglo 21 – slightly lower than that offered by the National Office of Statistics and Information until September – 1,719,145 travelers – supposes, in any case, “a drop of 48.23% compared to the same period in 2019 (before the pandemic), when 3,563,494 tourists arrived.”
Another of the sector’s “setbacks” listed in the report is the “infrastructure crisis”
As for the hotel occupancy rate, the report states that it is 25%, “leaving a significant number of underutilized facilities.” The name of Gaesa also turns off the tourism industry. Morales points to the conglomerate of the Armed Forces as the main culprit of the situation. “The Business Administration Group S.A. (Gaesa), with decisive control over finances and economic decisions, has prioritized excessive investments in tourism to the detriment of strategic sectors such as energy, transport and agriculture,” he says.
Another of the sector’s “setbacks” is the “infrastructure crisis,” which, with “constant blackouts, shortages of drinking water and urban deterioration, decreases the attractiveness of the country as a tourist destination.” In addition there are the epidemics such as dengue fever, the accumulation of garbage and the precariousness of the healthcare system.
“Everything indicates that Cuba as a tourist destination is beginning to disappear from the offerings of international tour operators”
Also discouraging travel to Cuba, the list continues, are the “increase in crime,” the “decrease of staff” – more than 10,000 “qualified” workers in the sector have emigrated in the last three years, says Morales – and the “failed foreign policies.” The consultant refers to the “support for Russia in its invasion of Ukraine,” which “has alienated key European markets” – an unconvincing argument in this case – and to the regime’s “alliance with international terrorist actors,” which “keeps it on that short list of countries associated with that scourge.”
In the midst of this dark panorama, tour operators and airlines have left Cuba, as is the case of the German giant TUI, which, as this newspaper published, suspended its flights from Amsterdam to Varadero last May due to lack of passengers. Also – this time without quoting 14ymedio, which first published the report – Canada issued a third travel alert warning tourists about the dengue epidemic, which joined two previous alerts about the increase in violence and the shortage of basic necessities.
“Everything indicates that Cuba as a tourist destination begins to disappear from the offerings of international tour operators,” says Morales, in contrast to other Caribbean destinations – such as the Dominican Republic – “which are registering sustained growth, expanding their infrastructures and improving their services.”
The recovery of the sector, in short, requires “profound structural changes,” which include solving the energy and health crises, improving transport and security, and “offering economic and political freedoms that attract foreign investment and the trust of the Cuban exile.” Without these reforms, the report concludes, “the tourism industry will continue to decline, leaving Cuba lagging behind its regional competitors.”
Translated by Regina Anavy for Translating Cuba.
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