The Cuba Tourism Board along with Minister of Tourism, Mr. Manuel Marrero Cruz, held an intimate luncheon at Sassafraz restaurant in Toronto Tuesday. During the luncheon, Mr. Marrero Cruz wanted to set the record straight and put to rest any misconceptions the media may have about the current state of Tourism in the country.

“There is a negative opinion being generated about Cuba that has nothing to do with reality… Our president and his minsters/council went on TV [in September] and informed the world what was happening. From that day on various media has decided to change the news and nobody has spoken about the real cause,” explained Mr. Marrero Cruz via a translator.

At the beginning of June the Trump administration imposed sanctions against the country which has made it even more difficult for visitors from the US to travel to Cuba. Further, as a result of the imposed sanctions, Americans are now forbidden to travel to Cuba via private and corporate airlines, cruise ships, sailboats, and fishing boats which has since caused a huge decline in tourism numbers.

“They try to isolate us by not allowing the American citizens to interact with the Cuban people. Last year we received 850,000 cruise ships, mostly from the United States… but on the 4th of July when the new measures were implemented, all the cruise companies left the country,” continued Mr. Marrero Cruz. “All this has consequences and it has lowered or diminished tourism [from the US] to 17%.”

In addition to the decrease in tourism to Cuba from the US, the supply of fuel coming to Cuba was also effected by the new embargoes placed on the country by the Trump Administration. As a result many shipping companies that previously supplied Cuba with fuel have refused to continue shipping fuel to Cuba for fear of being hit with fines by the US.”

“The American government has applied fines directly to all of the shipping companies that supply fuel [to Cuba] and have forbid them from entering any port in the United States….any ship that brought fuel to Cuba has consequently gone from Cuba,” shared Mr. Marrero Cruz.

Although Cuba experienced a shortage in fuel immediately following the implemented US embargo in June the country has since signed new contracts with suppliers and shipping companies. The Cuban government also went one step further and acquired ships of their own to ensure that neither quality of life nor the level of service within the tourism sector is affected by fuel restrictions.

Despite the new sanctions from the Trump Administration and the decrease in tourism coming in from the US, Canada is still a major market for Cuba and continues to make up 25.8% of visitors. Since January 2019 over 800,000 Canadians have visited Cuba and the Ministry of Tourism continues to welcome Canadians to Cuba with open arms.

This November, Cuba is set to celebrate Havana’s 500 year anniversary in a big way, hosting festivities aimed to honour the historic milestone for not only Cuba’s capital city, but the country as a whole. In preparation for this milestone hotel offerings in Havana have expanded and now include luxury hotel accommodations via the Iberostar Grand Packard and Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski. In November Hotel Paseo Del Prado by Accor Hotel Group is also set to open its doors as Cuba’s first Design Hotel. Hotel Paseo Del Prado will have 250 rooms and suites and is located on Havana’s famous Malecon Blvd overlooking the boardwalk and Caribbean sea.