U.S. Blockade Strongly Affects Cuba's Tourism

The economic and financial blockade of the United States against Cuba maintained for more than 50 years strongly affects the development of tourism on the island, according to a specialized report.

Scheduled to be presented by the Cuban authorities to the United Nations General Assembly on October 31, the text reveals details about the damages suffered by the Cuban travel industry because of Washington's measures.

Titled Necessity to put an end to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba, the document shows the negative impact of the blockade on important areas related to services, operations and logistics assurance.

During the period covered by the report (from April 2017 to March 2018), there are direct and indirect effects on insular tourism.

On November 8, 2017, the U.S. Treasury, State and Trade Departments further restricted trade with a direct impact on the arrival of American travelers to Cuba, the document recalls.

The report indicates that in the last quarter of 2017, the arrival of Americans in Cuba decreased 52 percent, which represented the loss of approximately 65,040 40 visitors.

The number of cancellations made to Travel Agencies as a result of alerts issued by the State Department amounted to 240 tourist groups.

In addition, from January 1 to March 13 of this year, the arrival of American visitors decreased by 43 percent, which means 51,677 fewer travelers than in the same period of 2017.

In general, in all sectors, the damages accumulated by the blockade during almost six decades of application reach the figure of 933 billion 678 thousand dollars, taking into account the depreciation of the dollar against the value of gold in the international market.

At current prices, such obstacles cause quantifiable damages for more than 134,499,800 dollars.

That is why in the period in which this report is framed, the blockade caused losses to Cuba in the order of 4,321,200,000 dollars.