CUBA TRAVEL SECTION - Havana Journal
Lourdes Pichs Rodriguez | Ahora.cu
Major investments to improve the tourist facilities of Guardalavaca and to expand the capabilities of city hotels will be undertaken in the province of Holguin due to the increasing demand of tourism travel, announced Manuel Marrero, Minister of Tourism in Cuba.
For this year there are plans to build the Hotel Ordóñez in the municipality of Gibara , and also begin the construction of two small hotels in the city of Holguin , one being the “Libertad” Hotel for the Islazul chain, for both national and foreign tourism.
The…
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ACN
A 12 percent rise in the number of tourists arriving in Holguin was achieved during the recently concluded winter season, compared to the same period in 2007, breaking historical records.
Carlos Zambrano, Turism delegate to the eastern region, said that in the period between November 2007 and March 2008, more than 93,150 visitors, mostly from Canada and England, landed in this part of the country, attracted not only by its beaches but also by the history and culture of the province.
The 2005 local record of visitors and tourist-per-day rates in the province…
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Reuters
Canadian tourists fleeing a harsh winter and buoyed by their strong dollar are flocking to Cuban beaches in record numbers and helping Cuba’s tourist trade end a two-year slump.
Cuban hotel managers said a surge in Canadian “snowbirds” led to unprecedented tourism during the winter months of January through March.
And prospects for hotels during the summer improved last week when the government of Cuba’s new President Raul Castro lifted a ban on Cubans staying at resort hotels formerly reserved for foreigners only.
Uncertainty over Cuba’s future since Fidel Castro fell…
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Liz Brown, Canwest News Service
For many Canadians, Cuba is a ray of sunshine during our bleak northern winters. After a morning of slogging through the rain, who wouldn’t dream of lounging on Varadero’s white sands, frosty Cuba Libre in hand, or sipping a mojito in Havana at Ernest Hemingway’s favorite bar, La Bodeguita del Medio.
But travel beyond Varadero’s famous beaches and Hemingway’s haunts and you’ll find a smaller, more laid-back city on the opposite side of the island.
Trinidad, in Sancti Spiritus province, isn’t as well known as other Cuban destinations, but…
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DTCuba.com
The tourist destination Jardines del Rey (King’s Gardens), in the eastern Cuban province of Ciego de Avila, has been visited by two million vacationers since 2003.
Jardines del Rey, which is made up of the keys Coco, Guillermo, Antón Chico and Paredón Grande, offers attractive options for major markets such as Canada, Latin America and Europe.
The region has a dozen four- and five-star hotels totaling 3,600 rooms by the beach.
Jardines del Rey, which is connected to mainland by a causeway over the sea, is considered Cuba’s youngest and fastest-growing…
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Cuban News Agency
Cuba’s tourism company Habaguanex S.A. announced the opening of the Marques de Prado Ameno hotel in Habana Vieja Cuba, a World Cultural Heritage.
A report by the Cuban Tourism Ministry “MINTUR” says the refurbished hotel will be located close to the Plaza de Armas Square and the Catedral de la Habana. It was named after a prominent family that lived in the colonial house, built in the 19th century that will now receive tourists from around of the world.
The four star Cuban hotel will have 16 rooms, including…
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Prensa Latina
Spanish Hotel Group Barcelo is to increase its presence in Cuba"s tourism, with the building of 5,000 new leisure facilities, a digital report on Caribbean News indicated Tuesday.
Caribbean News adds that recent reports from Barcelo Hotels & Resorts, one of the most important consortiums in Spain, has eyes on Santa Maria Key to develop its Beach Resort option, which has earned well-deserved fame in hotels in Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, and plans seven new facilities here by 2010.
Two of those hotels will be built by mixed…
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DTCuba.com
The eastern Cuban province of Granma has greatly improved the quality of tourist services, as a result of large investments in the sector.
According to local tourism authorities, the hotels’ rooms, restaurants and kitchens were improved, and establishments were painted and equipped with new air-conditioning systems and power generators.
Works benefited the hotels Marea del Portillo and Villa Punta Piedra, in Pilón, and the hotels Sierra Maestra, in Bayamo, and Guacanayabo, in Manzanillo.
Remodeling works also included Villa Balcón de la Sierra, in the municipality of Bartolomé Masó, and 55 percent…
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By MIKE WILLIAMS | Cox News Service
Do Florida Keys tourism officials worry about the impact on their economy when Cuba opens to US visitors? For decades tour guides have successfully hyped Key West’s close proximity and historic ties to Cuba, playing up the Cuban cigar factories that once thrived, author Ernest Hemingway’s fascination with both islands and a shared history of fishing, rum-running and other tropical pursuits.
But now Key West’s much-ballyhooed connection with Cuba has some folks worried.
With Cuban dictator Fidel Castro ailing and…
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Don Townshend peers into Cuba’s prosperous past on a trip through the country’s agricultural heartland.
Sydney Morning Herald
We mill impatiently outside the railway station in Trinidad, central Cuba, glancing at our watches and peering towards the train shed. The train is already 20 minutes late and nowhere in sight. “Some days,” remarked a Cuban tour guide to his group, “the train it cannot come because it is very old.”
Fortunately it isn’t one of those days. Ten minutes later, preceded by cantankerous snorting and a pall of black smoke, veteran locomotive 1432 shuffles…
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