By Jay Amberg Bloomberg Lifestyles. Fri, 08 Jun 2001,
11:59am EDT. Bloomberg.com
Havana, June 7 -- The Cuban government has said it will double the number of
hotel rooms it has by 2005 in order to accommodate 3 million tourists expected
to visit the island, according to Granma, Cuba's state newspaper.
Based on year-end 2000 figures, the Cuban government said it has about
35,000 rooms available countrywide for tourists, compared with 32,260 rooms in
1999.
Cuba estimates that by 2010, the number of visitors to Cuba could jump to 12
million, although this figure assumes current U.S. travel restrictions will be
lifted.
To accommodate 12 million tourists, the Cuban government said the island
would need about 185,000 hotel rooms, requiring an investment of $22 billion
from companies outside Cuba.
Independent estimates indicate Cuba's gross revenue from tourism was about
$1.9 billion in 1999 (the most current figures), surpassing both sugar and
nickel exports as Cuba's leading source of hard currency.
Last year, 1.7 million tourists visited Cuba, though the government had
expected 2 million.
More than 900 participants, representing 50 countries, were in Havana
recently for Cuba's 2001 Tourism Convention at the Morro- Cabana
Historical-Military Park.
Granma said one of the highlights of the convention was the signing of the
Cuban-Spanish joint venture by Desarrollo Turistico Bacunayagua SA, to build a
new vacation resort on the border of Havana and Matanzas provinces.
The paper also said Golden Tulip, the Dutch company that operates the Parque
Central Hotel in the center of Havana, will begin construction to add 160 rooms.
Alvaro Perez, Cuba's minister of transportation, said the government will
add 410 tourist buses that will be assembled in Cuba this year using Mercedes
Benz diesel motors and Brazilian bus bodies, according to Granma.
Perez said tourism transportation services on the island earned more than
$80 million in 2000 and that figure was expected to rise this year.
Last year, Canada ranked first in tourist visits to Cuba (308,000 visitors),
followed by Germany (203,000), the U.S. (200,000, according to Cuba), Italy
(176,000) and Spain (153,000).
Earlier this year the International Trade Commission estimated 1 million
U.S. tourists would visit Cuba if the embargo were lifted.
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