Cuba: In 2024 it is expected to receive more than three million tourists

Cuba aims to overcome the “barrier” of three million tourists by 2024, Tourism Minister Juan Carlos García confirmed today at a press conference

“We have great challenges, but we are not giving up on exceeding three million vacationers this year,” said the minister, who reported that during 2023 the island received 2.4 million tourists, 70 percent of what was planned by the Government.

In this regard, García expressed optimism for what was achieved the previous year, because “no country has to compete in the conditions faced by the island”, hit by the iron blockade that the United States has applied to it for more than six decades.

“Few countries in the world face such adverse conditions with such a tough media campaign, particularly against tourism,” García said.

He recalled that 50% of vacationers who arrive in the Caribbean come from the United States, but they cannot visit Cuba normally, since they need to obtain a license from the Washington Department of the Treasury.

He also noted that the ban on American cruise ships from touching Cuban ports, issued by the Donald Trump Administration and maintained by the Government of Joe Biden, deprived the island of receiving about 800,000 vacationers annually.

“Despite this scenario, Cuba continues to grow and there are prospects that growth will continue in 2024,” said the minister.

Currently, the island has air connections with 32 countries through 50 airlines with an average of 579 weekly flights.