Cuba and Russia pledged this Friday to strengthen their ties in the tourism industry, with the resumption of flights from Moscow to Varadero in July and an increase in investment in hotel infrastructure on the island.
According to the general director of Aeroflot, Aleksandrovsky Sergey, the plans for the tourism sector are part of the intention to strengthen, this year, the “strategic association” between the two nations announced last December.
When the tourism sector, the engine of the Cuban economy, suffered from the almost total absence of visitors, at the beginning of the pandemic, the Russians brought relief to the island, by increasing their trips in 2020 and 2021. In March 2022, however, this flow was interrupted abruptly, due to the closure of air spaces in Europe, after the invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian vice-premier, Dmitry Chernyshenko, highlighted today that “Russian companies are working on investment projects in Cuban territory”, in the construction of hotels and in the renovation of existing lodgings.
In the midst of the worst economic crisis in three decades, with shortages of food, medicine and fuel, the Cuban government intends to attract 3.5 million foreign visitors in 2023. By the end of March, 984,000 international tourists had arrived in the country, according to official data, with emphasis on Canadians, followed by Cubans living abroad and visitors from the United States.
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