Importance of tourism will not be overlooked, Cuba’s prime minister says

Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz has promised that his government will give the country’s all-important tourism trade its fullest attention.

Marrero Cruz, speaking at the Wednesday opening of FITCuba, Cuba’s annual tourism show, acknowledged his country has had to contend with economic challenges and said tourism is critical in helping overcome them.

“Tourism has a role to play in the recovery of the Cuban economy, ” he told his Havana audience. Marrero Cruz blamed many of the economic problems on American policies aimed at stifling Cuban tourism, policies he noted prevent American hotel companies from entering Cuba and pressured American cruise companies to drop Cuban ports.

Beach tourism has been at the core of Cuban tourism for decades but Marrero Cruz — himself a former tourism minister –said his homeland isn’t simply for sun-seekers.

“It’s more than sun and sand,” he said, adding the likes of those who appreciate nature,  history,  culture. sports and wellness can enjoy Cuban vacations.  Marrero Cruz noted that this year marks the 35th anniversary of Spanish hotel chain Melia’s arrival in Cuba, with the Spanish company becoming the first foreign hotel firm to do business in post-revolution Cuba.

Melia is now the dominant hotel company in the Latin country.

Cuban tourism minister Juan Carlos Garcia Granda in turn told the audience that Havana is a “wonderful  city” and invited show delegates to have a “mojito at the Bodeguita del Medio,” a landmark Old Havana watering hole popularized in part by Ernest Hemingway.