Cuban Tourism Aims to Strengthen Ties with Commercial Partners at FIT 2025

Buenos Aires, Argentina – Cuba is seeking to strengthen its relationships with commercial partners at the International Tourism Fair (FIT 2025), focusing on those who currently bet on the island as an ideal vacation destination for their clients.

This was stated to Prensa Latina by Pilar Álvarez, Marketing Director of Cuba's Ministry of Tourism, who is leading a delegation of 10 industry executives that traveled specifically to the Argentine capital to work at this important event, which brings together over 1,700 exhibitors from the host country and 51 other nations.

Showcasing Unique Value

At the Fair, which runs from September 27th to 30th, "we are presenting our tourist offerings to Argentines, so they feel they can enjoy our unique values and, above all, the marvelous beaches that are different from others in the Caribbean due to their fine sand and being free of weeds," Álvarez specified.

Cuban destinations, she continued, allow families to enjoy a happy stay alongside a variety of activities and excursions they can undertake at each selected site.

"Cuba offers sustainable, inclusive, and accessible tourism that attracts visitors from different latitudes and encourages repeat stays. A significant number of national travel agencies and hotel chains are at the fair ready to promote all their tourist offers," the executive reported.

Recognition and Resilience

Recently, the island was once again recognized as the Best Cultural Destination in the Caribbean, "which calls us to continue showing our most important and unique values in the region, as it is a wide range of possibilities and tourist offers," Álvarez noted.

She acknowledged the sector's challenges, stating, "As has happened with the global tourism industry, the sector has experienced ups and downs, and we are in a process of transformation and recovery with permanent interaction with our partners."

She explained that global phenomena like the pandemic, coupled with the impact of US government aggression aimed at destabilizing and dominating the Cuban economy, led to a decrease in travelers.

Navigating Challenges

During this period, she pointed out, more than 243 punitive measures were reinforced against Cuba and its people without distinction; most of them affect Tourism. These include costly disinformation and discredit campaigns to discourage travel and the revocation of the US electronic visa (ESTA) for anyone entering Cuba from over 40 countries.

Likewise, Washington falsely suspended the activity of US cruise lines, the second main access route to the country, which lies on the principal Caribbean cruise routes.

In the face of this aggression, Álvarez stated, "a great capacity for resilience and adaptation prevails in our sector today, and with introduced changes, we have been able to achieve new results that encourage us and strengthen the confidence of both us and our counterparts."

Highlighting Natural and Cultural Wealth

Álvarez elaborated that the island's nature is diverse and surprising, with a great variety of ecosystems and unique flora and fauna with a high level of endemism. Twenty-two percent of its geography has been declared protected areas; it boasts 14 national parks, six biosphere reserves, and an equal number of Ramsar sites, ideal for nature tourism.

Cuba has nine sites declared World Heritage Sites, 277 national monuments, four Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity designations, and 17 manifestations of the nation's cultural heritage. All this confirms the island's great cultural wealth, she illustrated.

And all this stems from a common origin, from a combination of Indigenous, African, European, and Caribbean influences, which gave rise to a magnificent mix of traditions, architecture, music, dance, art, and cuisine. "All this enriches the Cuban destination and makes Cuba unique," the executive affirmed.