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Some 185,000 tourists from Russia traveled to Havana and Cuba's
dazzling white-sand beaches in 2023 and "we hope that the number
will rise to 250,000 people this year," Cuban ambassador Julio
Antonio Garmendía said in a report by Russia's Interfax news
agency.
That would represent a 35% jump in tourists from Russia in 2024,
a desperately needed shot in the arm for a key Cuban industry
that has struggled to revive following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stiffened U.S. sanctions under former U.S. President Donald
Trump also complicate travel by U.S. citizens to the island.
The Cuban diplomat in Moscow said new flights to the island from
the Russian capital - a 13-hour direct flight - had helped boost
visitor numbers last year and would do the same in 2024.
Russia, a long-time political ally of Cuba, has also introduced
its MIR credit card for use on the island, facilitating
transactions for citizens who visit Cuba's cities and resorts.
Communist-run Cuba, knee-capped by a near-unprecedented economic
crisis and widespread shortages, is counting on increased
foreign currency generated by tourists this year to help import
food, fuel and medicine to the island.
Cuban officials have said 2.4 million tourists arrived on the
island in 2023, around 1.1 million visitors less than the 3.5
million it had budgeted.
This year, tourism officials predict the number of visitors to
rise to a more modest 3.2 million even as the country confronts
an ongoing economic crisis.
According to the national statistics agency ONEI, the main
sources of tourists to the island in 2023 were Canada (936,436
visitors), Cubans residing in other countries (358,481), Russia
(184,819), the United States (159,032), Spain (89,285) and
Germany (69,475).
(Reporting by Nelson Acosta, editing by Dave Sherwood and
Cynthia Osterman)
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