Cuba:Tourism continues slide

Cuba Standard

Graphic by Cuba's statistics institute: First drop in five years

CUBA STANDARD — The number of foreign visitors to Cuba continued its year-long slide in October, dropping 0.9 percent from the same month in 2012.

The total in October was 167,977 visitors, down from 169,566 a year ago.

Year-to-date through the end of October, the total number of visitors was 2,312,609, down 1.2 percent from the same period last year.

The weakness comes as the “other” category, the second-largest outbound category that includes visitors from the United States, dropped 3.8 percent, indicating that people-to-people travel and family visits may begin to wane. Also, traditionally important European markets such as Italy, Spain, France, United Kingdom, Netherlands and Russia continued to drop, as did Argentina.

The strongest-performing outbound market and engine that drives Cuban tourism continues to be Canada, with 1.8 percent more visitors year-to-date. Other strong performers are Germany (+5.5%), Mexico (+10.3%), Venezuela (+18.9%), Chile (+31.5%), Colombia (+4.9%), and China (+15.1%).

Cuban hotels have been able to compensate for part of the drop in international tourism with a fast-rising number of Cuban guests. Domestic tourism in Cuba grew 12.6 percent in the first seven months of the year — the most recent data available — compared to the same period in 2012. A total of 339,470 Cubans stayed in hard-currency hotels from January through the end of July, making them the third-largest contingent, following Canadian and U.S. visitors. Tourism officials expect the number to reach 625,000 by the end of this year, nearly 100,000 more than in 2012.

Also, Cuban state tourism companies are making strides to diversify their portfolio. Boating and golf projects are among the top investment priorities in Cuba; a large marina is expected to open in the beach resort of Varadero in December.