AREQUIPA, Peru – The first of several flights scheduled for this season from the Russian company Rosneft arrived in Cuba with 389 passengers who will participate in stay programs on the Island as part of a corporate business tourism project.
According to information provided today by the International Group of Tour Operators and Travel Agencies, Havanatur S.A., quoted by the Cuban News Agency, the Russian oil-sector company has been organizing these types of activities in Cuba for over 10 years.
Rosneft, one of the largest companies in Russia, began its operations on the Island in 2014 and chose Varadero, the main sun and beach area of the Caribbean nation’s tourist destinations, to develop these types of programs, the report states.
It adds that these itineraries include outdoor physical activities, excursions, and medical check-ups.
This year, the arrival of three Rosneft groups is expected for the spring, and so far, four flights have been scheduled for the fall.
At the welcoming reception of this flight at the Juan Gualberto Gómez International Airport in Varadero, María del Carmen Orellana Alvarado, Cuba’s First Deputy Minister of Tourism, Yoelkis Salazar Rivery, General Director of the Havanatur Group, and the staff of Havanatur Varadero, who will be managing the operation for Spring 2024, were present.
The increase in flights from Russia to destinations like Varadero or Jardines del Rey is part of a joint strategy between Moscow and Havana. The ban on airlines from the Eurasian nation has positioned the Caribbean island as an accessible alternative destination for Russian citizens.
In this scenario, the Cuban regime seeks to relaunch tourism, a sector that has not yet reached its pre-pandemic levels.
Juan Carlos García Granda, the Minister of Tourism in Cuba, expressed his hope last month that in the short term the number of Russian tourists could rise to half a million, during his tenure in his position.
The Cuban regime expects to welcome more than 200,000 Russian tourists in 2024 and up to half a million in the future, the Minister of Tourism optimistically stated during a press conference with the Russian agency TASS.
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