Slowdown Of Tourist Arrivals To Cuba Continued In July

Fox News Latino

The arrival of visiting foreigners to Cuba, where tourism is the second largest source of revenue, continued its slowdown in July with a drop of 0.5 percent compared with the same month in 2013, according to official figures released Saturday.

The National Statistics and Information Office, or ONEI, said the island received during the month of July a total of 211,456 tourists, some 1,055 fewer than in that month last year.

ONEI had already recorded in June a decline of 1.4 percent compared with 2013.

Nonetheless, statistics show that in the first seven months of the year, tourist arrivals grew 3.4 percent over the same period the year before.

In 2013 Cuba welcomed a total of 2,852,572 travelers, a modest growth of 0.5 percent more than in 2012, while for this year the country set the goal of attracting 3 million visitors.

The official daily Juventud Rebelde noted Saturday that to reach that goal the sector would have to achieve, between August and December, a growth of 8.1 percent.

Canada, Germany, Britain, Italy and France remain the leading sources of travelers to Cuba, where tourism is the second largest source of foreign currency after the export of services.