Cuba received more than 500 thousand international travelers in 2021

 Cuba received 573,944 international travelers in 2021, according to data released by the National Statistics and Information Office (ONEI).

The figure represents 39.8 percent of those who arrived in the country in 2020 and is equivalent to 869 181 fewer tourists, despite the fact that the Caribbean nation exhibited a slight recovery in the sector since mid-November.

The Russian Federation was the main issuer, with 146,151 visitors, and the only market that equaled the previous year's numbers and also grew.

Canada, the country that used to receive the largest number of tourists to Cuba, was relegated to second place, followed by the Cuban community abroad and Spain.

Cuba had projected to receive around 2.2 million travelers in 2021, but the resurgence of Covid-19 that affected the Caribbean nation since the beginning of the year and grew exponentially until September had a hard impact on the recovery expected at that time.

By 2022, the tourism sector expects some 2.5 million visitors, services that should contribute close to 1.159 billion dollars to the national economy, according to the Minister of Economy and Planning, Alejandro Gil, last December before the Cuban Parliament.

So far, Varadero has reaffirmed its position as the country's main tourist center, with an average daily stay of 13,000 tourists, 77 percent of them foreigners and the rest nationals, according to Ivis Fernández, delegate of the Ministry of Economy and Planning in the province of Matanzas.

The directive catalogued these results as positive and that they surpassed the forecasts, because in spite of the epidemiological situation at global level, during the New Year's holidays 24 thousand vacationers arrived at its facilities, when the forecast was 21 thousand.

This seaside resort, the largest in Cuba, has more than a dozen hotel products that won international awards in 2021, and will host the XL International Fair FITCuba-2022, which from May 3 to 7 will bring together travel agencies, tour operators and airlines, among others.

On this occasion, the event is dedicated to the sun and beach poles of the archipelago and Russia as guest country.

In spite of the difficult economic situation and the slow recovery, the Caribbean nation is projecting the completion of 4,607 new rooms this year, which would bring the total number of rooms in the state-owned sector to 84,906.