The number of foreign tourists who have visited Cuba since the beginning of the year has increased nearly six-fold compared to the same period in 2021, but remains below pre-Covid-19 levels, the government said on Saturday.
Officials say they hope to see more Russian visitors once flights resume due to the pandemic and war in Ukraine.
The National Bureau of Statistics (ONEI) said 834,891 tourists visited the island from January to July, compared to 141,293 in the first seven months of last year.
Tourism, the island’s second industry
International tourism is Cuba’s second most important economic activity after the sale of medical services, but Covid-19, combined with travel restrictions from the United States, has caused this sector to collapse in 2020 and 2021.
The total number of foreign visitors fell from 4.2 million in 2019 to one million in 2020. However, with Covid-19 now better controlled, Cuban authorities hope to reach 2.5 million visits this year. In particular, Cuba expects a revival of tourism from Russia, which in 2020 and 2021 overtook Canada as the first source of foreign visitors.
Canadians guide tourists to Cuba
Cuba’s ambassador to Moscow, Julio Garmendia, told Russian newspaper Izvestia last week that efforts are underway to resume canceled flights by this winter. “We know that Russians are eager to return to Cuba for their holidays, and the Cuban people are waiting for them with the hospitality that characterizes them,” he assured the official Cubadebate blog.
However, data from ONEI shows that Canada has again become the main source of foreign tourists to the island this year, with 258,896 Canadians already visiting between January and July.