T O U R I S M

• Cuban rum has no secrets
December.16.09
THE history of Cuban rum is as old as colonization itself, given that is a product extracted from sugar cane, which was brought to the island by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to this continent. What followed is well known, the roots of sugar cane from the Canary Islands flourished in fertile Cuban soil, where they found an ideal microclimate to grow, primarily around indigenous villages and trading posts.

• IN OLD HAVANA
The lady of the Castle
September.3.09
THE Castillo de la Real Fuerza (Castle of the Royal Force), located in the oldest part of Havana, attracts the attention of hundreds of tourists who visit it every week, not just because of its harmonious, Renaissance-inspired architecture, or because it is the oldest military construction in the city, but also because of the legend surrounding the artistic weather vane, known as La Giraldilla, which tops its lookout tower.

• IN OLD HAVANA
The Franchi Alfaro House: El Escorial Café
May.15.09
THIS former colonial mansion, also known as the home of the Marquises of the Royal Proclamation," is located on one corner of Plaza Vieja, and forms part of a group of houses with similar 18th century architectural characteristics.

• Historical record of 2.319 million tourists broken today
December 27.08
A new historic record has been established today, breaking the 2005 record of 2.319 million visitors, announced Manuel Marrero, minister of tourism, during his report to the National Assembly of People’s Power, attended by President Raul Castro.

• Cuba consolidated as Caribbean destination
December 4.08
FOR the fifth consecutive year, Cuba has already surpassed the two-million foreign visitors mark for this year, announced the Ministry of Tourism in a statement in which it highlighted the fact that on this particular occasion, the important target was reached on November 14, much earlier than in previous years.

• Number of Chinese visitors set to double
December 4.08
BEIJING.—Alexis Trujillo Morejón, Cuban first deputy minister of tourism, said that there are possibilities of doubling within a short space of time the annual number of Chinese tourists visiting the country, currently at an average of 12,000, Xinhua reports.

• Varadero anticipating one million tourists
October.27.08
VARADERO. — Cuba’s top beach resort has received more than 700,000 tourists to date and the conditions exist for the year to end with a total of one million visitors for the first time in the history of tourism in that province.

• Defending authenticity, premise of Cuban artists and intellectuals
May 15.08
DEFENSE of the authentic values of national culture is the central principle guiding the island’s artists and intellectuals, given the need to promote the tourism industry as one of the essential factors of the country’s development, affirmed Abel Prieto, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party and minister of culture, speaking at the Cuba 2008 International Tourism Fair (FIT Cuba 2008).

• Defending authenticity, premise of Cuban artists and intellectuals
May 7.08
DEFENSE of the authentic values of national culture is the central principle guiding the island’s artists and intellectuals given the need to promote the tourism industry as one of the essential factors of the country’s development, affirmed Abel Prieto, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party and minister of culture, speaking yesterday at the Cuba 2008 International Tourism Fair (FITCuba 2008).

• A record 1 million tourists arrive in Cuba in first quarter
April 30.08
ONE million tourists visited Cuba in the first quarter of 2008, and did so in record time, 22 days earlier than in 2007, officials announced at a celebration on Tuesday at the Compay Segundo Salon in the Hotel Nacional.

• French airline Corsairfly inaugurates weekly flight to Havana
April 25.08
THE French airline Corsairfly has inaugurated a weekly flight to Havana from Paris, with the first arrival bringing 300 passengers, including 15 journalists, led by the president of the New Frontiers Group (GNF) Jean Marc Siano, and the airline’s vice president, Cristhope Leloup.

• Canadian has visited Cuba 140 times
April 25.08
MARC Fryma is a Canadian businessman who considers Cuba his second home, since he has visited the island on more than 140 occasions.

• Minister of Tourism announces new projects to attract visitors
February 1. 2008
MADRID (EFE).— The construction of a Museum of Tourism in the Cuban capital’s Centro Habana neighborhood —traditionally its most commercial— is one of the projects planned to attract more visitors to the city, according to Manuel Marrero Cruz, the island’s minister of tourism.

• OLD HAVANA
The Lonja de Comercio
October 18. 2007
IN the San Francisco de Asís Plaza, in a privileged spot facing the Convent and the Custom House stands the Lonja de Comercio, the former Havana Merchants Guild, described by historian Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring as "one of the most notable buildings from the first decade of the 20th century."

• OLD HAVANA
San Ambrosio School
September 14. 2007
ON Oficios Street, one of the oldest in the city, the story of this house began in 1688 when a master carpenter sold it to Fray Evelino de Compostela, Bishop of Cuba, who founded a school there for the instruction of Latin and singing, which he called San Ambrosio.

• France and Spain: top tourist destinations
July 16, 2007
FRANCE and Spain continue to be the top tourist destinations in the world, according to data from 2006 published by the UN World Tourism Organization.

• Russian tour operators opt for Cuba at international fair
March 19, 2007
MOSCOW, March 19 (PL).—A group of tour operators from different parts of Russia are to attend the presentation on Cuban tourist options on the opening day of the Inturmarket Fair in this capital.

• Cuba received 30,000 Argentine tourists in 2006
January 25, 2007
THE influx of Argentine tourists to diverse Cuban destinations was in excess of 30,000 last year, thanks to the island’s attractive offers.

• Cuba, the country that many people want to know
May 10, 2006
LAST year, Cuba welcomed 2,319, 334 foreign visitors, the highest annual figure to date, and which represents a growth of 13.2% in relation to 2004, affirmed Manuel Marrero Cruz, minister of tourism, during the opening of the 26th International Tourism Fair.

• PARADISE MAINTAINED
Global Environment Facility confirms its ongoing support for Jardines del Rey
May 1, 2006
ONE of the Caribbean’s natural wonders, the Jardines del Rey archipelago on Cuba’s northern coast, is to continue enjoying financial and technical assistance from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) for supporting preservation of the biological and natural treasures found in that region’s four ecosystems.

• Cuban and Ecuadorian tour operators unite to strengthen tourism
March 20, 2006
THE Havanatur international group of tour operators and travel agencies and TAME, the Ecuadorian airline, have created a strategic alliance to bring tourism to Cuba and offer multi-destination flights.

• JOSONE PARK IN VARADERO
From green to blue
March 13, 2006
WHAT place in Varadero sits on nine hectares of land right in the middle of that beach resort, between the so-called “southern sea” and the first avenue and tunnel link with the desirable blue waters and their white, powdery sand? Answer: Josone Park.

• Spanish tourism to Cuba grew by33% in 2005
Februari 6, 2006
SPAIN remained the third issuing country of tourists to Cuba during 2005, a year in which a total of 194,102 Spaniards visited the island, 33% more than during 2004, reported Manuel Marrero, Cuban minister of tourism, during the 2006 International Tourism Fair (FITUR).

• The Varadero Xanadu
December 12, 2005
PERHAPS it would be a contradiction to say that there is a mansion called Xanadu in the resort of Varadero. However, if we follow — precisely— the myth of the summer capital of Kubla Khan, the splendor of which Marco Polo spoke, Varadero really is a Xanadu given the wealth of its nature, its beaches, its sky and its gardens.

• LAS TERRAZAS
Tourism in the heart of the country
December 1, 2005
FOR a long time, Cuba’s sun and sea have been almost exclusively its main attractions to international tourism. The beauty and quality of its beaches and cays, and its climate that feels like summer almost year round, have contributed to making this Caribbean nation known primarily as a beach destination.

• 486TH ANNIVERSARY OF HAVANA
The Saratoga, another jewel of the city
November 17, 2005
THE Saratoga Hotel, improved and with all the technology and comfort of modern life, located at the intersection of the capital’s central Paseo del Prado and Dragones Street, was reopened on the 486th anniversary of Havana and the eve of passing the two-million tourists mark.

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