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Cuba’s tourism minister, Juan Carlos García Granda, insists the island’s tourism industry is “alive and kicking” despite the worst economic crisis since the Cold War.
Visitor numbers have collapsed since the highs of nearly five million in 2018, hit by the pandemic and renewed US restrictions under Donald Trump. The minister blames Washington’s “economic war” and its decision to again list Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, which has discouraged British and European visitors.
UK and some European tourists who have visited Cuba after 12 January 2021 are now barred from an ESTA (the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation) to enter the US.
Cuba’s economy relies heavily on tourism for foreign currency, especially with sugar, tobacco, and nickel in decline.
But ambitious hotel projects, such as the towering Torre K in Havana, have drawn local criticism for wasting funds on blazing lights while ordinary Cubans endure power cuts and shortages.
Architecture students say the skyscraper is out of place and unnecessary, given many hotels already stand empty in Havana.
García Granda defends the construction, saying 70% of Cuba’s tourism sector is supported by foreign investment and that new hotels are vital for future growth.
He rejects claims of public frustration, saying Cubans remain resilient. The government hopes for recovery, with modest increases in UK visitor numbers since Covid. “We are going to fill the hotels,” he insists.
Source: BBC.
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