CUBA TRAVEL SECTION - Havana Journal > Cuba Vacation
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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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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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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Granma.cu
The construction of a Museum of Tourism in the Cuban capital’s Centro Habana neighborhood —traditionally its most commercial— is one of the projects planned to attract more visitors to the city, according to Manuel Marrero Cruz, the island’s minister of tourism.
“The museum will display the entire history of the pre- and post-Revolutionary periods,” said Marrero Cruz, who spoke at the International Tourism Fair (FITUR) in Madrid. “We have sufficient material and history for the project to be very interesting.”
The construction of the museum would come in the context of a broader…
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By Anthony Boadle | Reuters
Cuba’s cruise business has been been paralyzed by U.S. sanctions that deter cruise ships from visiting during their tours of the Caribbean, the director of Havana’s passenger terminal said on Wednesday.
The cigar and rum shop is closed in the deserted $10 million terminal and no ships are expected to moor for days. Outside, horse and carriage drivers waiting to carry fewer tourists around the colonial streets of Old Havana blame U.S. President George W. Bush for tightening the screws of the trade embargo against Cuba’s communist government.
“The…
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Benjamin B. Ellis | Weekend Post | Canada.com
Mountains jut from the earth, a carpet of tangled trees enveloping even their steepest slopes. Bronzed faces, wrinkled from years of exposure to sun and smoke, smile from the doorways of lonely farming huts, ready to share some fresh fruit, a hand-rolled cigar, a glass of murky water or a photo opportunity.
In the Vinales Valley of Cuba, with the vigorous boil of Havana’s busy streets hundreds of kilometers to the east, and the gated resorts of Varadero even farther, the senses are gently massaged by nature…
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ACN
For the fourth year in a row, Cuba is expecting to receive more than 2 million tourists this year 2007, which confirms that the island is one the most important tourist destinations in the Caribbean.
Cuba’s tourism deputy minister Maria Elena Lopez said that most of Cuba’s tourism markets are expected to grow by the end of this period. Lopez talked about the development of tourism in the island at the second session of the 18th French Travel Agencies Association (AFAT-VOYAGES)Congress underway in Hotel Playa Pesquero, which has the highest number of rooms (944) in…
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The 18th AFAT-VOYAGES Convention will take place from November 13 to 16 in Holguin, Cuba. The meeting aims to promote Cuba as a tourist destination, especially Bariay, on the north coast of Cuba where Christopher Colombus landed on October 27, 1492.
According to Hugo Huget, representative of the Ministry of Tourism in Holguin, the event will gather more than 500 representatives from different parts of the World, including managers of travel agencies, journalists and personalities from the entertainment industry.
During the event, participants will visit different touristic places including Aldea Taina in Chorro de Maita; Cayo…
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BY LISANKA GONZALEZ SUAREZ ― Granma International staff writer―
As a result of the sale of the Spanish Pullmantur cruise line to the U.S. Royal Caribbean Cruise Corporation, Cuba has lost $16.89 million since the end of 2006 and 12,300 passengers have been prevented from visiting the island by the blockade
EVERY weekend up until October of 2006, the Holiday Dream anchored at the cruise liner terminal at Cuba’s capital city port as part of its Havana-Cancun-Isle of Youth-Jamaica itinerary. The docks were filled with the joy and music that characterizes the island and the passengers…
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