DTcuba.com

Havana.- Cuba’s leisure industry will open new establishments this year, as part of the expansion program in the tourist sector.

Tourist officials pointed out that some 1,700 rooms must be completed in 2003, and 1,500 rooms will be completed next year.

Preliminary figures show a 16-percent increase in tourist arrivals during the first semester of this year, so experts estimate that 1.9 million vacationers will visit Cuba in 2003.

Growing investments in Cuba’s leisure industry have benefited central Cienfuegos province, where the hotels La Union, Jagua, Faro Luna and Rancho Luna, as well as Villa Guajimico, have undergone capital restoration works.

Moreover, the development program includes investments in Cuba’s major tourist regions: Havana, Varadero, Jardines del Rey, northern Holguín, northern Camagüey, Santiago de Cuba, the central-southern region and Los Canarreos archipelago.