Cuba: international tourism grew in 2023 compared to the previous year

The arrival of tourists to Cuba grew 34% last year compared to 2022, according to an analysis published on his Facebook profile by José Luis Perelló, university professor and specialist in sector development issues. In the year that has just concluded, this destination registered two million 436 thousand 97 international visitors, some 822,892 more than in 2022 with an increase in all markets with the exception of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, according to the expert.

Of that total, 70.9 percent of international visitors correspond to five main segments: Canadians, Cubans living abroad, Americans, Russians and Spanish. As for Canada, the country that occupies first place as a source of tourists to this destination for more than three decades, according to a preliminary report from the National Office of Statistics and Information, the number of visitors reached a figure close to 800 thousand, over 200% year-on-year increase.

Regarding Cubans residing outside the island, about 320,193 of those arrived in the country, They came from the United States, adds Perelló. Despite these figures, Cuba, as a tourist destination, lagged behind its Caribbean competitors to reach the 2019 arrival figures, considered as pre-pandemic, which he attributes to the fact that these nations have two important markets: American tourism and cruise ships, because the island does not have access to them by restrictions, prohibitions and already known policies, which are the main segments of the Caribbean destinations.

Regarding his forecast for the just started year, the analyst considered that Cuba will continue facing one of the deepest and most lasting crises of the last 20 years, in which the economic situation will have an impact, in addition to the presidential elections in the United States, Mexico and Dominican Republic.