The Air Canada plane carried more than 100 Canadian tourists to the Cuban tourist destination of Jardines del Rey. Photo: Mintour.
The arrival of international travelers to Cuba between January and May increased by 640% year-on-year, adding 564,847 visitors during these five months, reported this Friday the National Office of Statistics and Information of Cuba (ONEI).
The figure – close to that recorded by the island over the whole of last year – includes business travel and travel for personal reasons (not just international tourists).
According to the report, Canadians have visited the country the most so far in 2022 (182,733), followed by Cubans residing abroad (121,285). In both cases, the increase over the same period last year was more than 1,000%. Meanwhile, Spain ranked fifth in visitor numbers, with 20,963.
ONEI estimated 573,944 international travelers who visited Cuba throughout the last year, representing a 60% drop from 2020.
It is expected to receive some 2.5 million visitors this year, which would mean an injection of $1,159 million in foreign currency into the country.
To contribute to this objective, the tourism sector expects to end this year 2022 with 84,906 hotel rooms, 5.7% more than the previous year, despite the pandemic, which is not over. The figures show signs of the gradual recovery of one of the most important lines of the Cuban economy.
(With information from EFE)
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