Air China resumed its regular flights to Cuba on Friday, whose authorities seek to attract travelers who do not usually visit it in order to strengthen its tourism sector, which has failed to rebound after the COVID-19 pandemic and an increase in sanctions. USA.
The Asian giant’s aircraft, a Boeing 787-900, landed at the capital’s José Martí airport and was received with a water arch – a welcoming tradition in aviation – and by senior government officials, according to The Associated Press.
In 2023, Cuba only reported the arrival of about 2.4 million tourists from around the world.
“This is a historic moment for commercial relations” between the two countries and “the possibilities it opens,” said Cuban Tourism Minister Juan Carlos García, who recognized the importance of the airlift as part of the strategy to attract visitors.
Cuba is going through its worst economic crisis in decades, with severe blackouts and shortages for the population. The government is unable to obtain financial solvency to meet its expenses.
Before the pandemic hit, the Cuban tourism sector was thriving. In 2019, 4.2 million visitors from all over the planet arrived on the island.
“Today we have two good news: we have restarted the direct route and… the (Cuban) visa exception decree for Chinese citizens has been published,” explained Ma Hui, Chinese ambassador to the island.
Since the middle of the last decade, Air China had developed flights to Cuba that passed through Montreal with cargo and passengers, which were suspended in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.
“I feel very happy and I am very happy… we are brothers and very good friends,” said Li Jiazhen, a 34-year-old doctor who studied in this Caribbean nation from 2009 to 2016, upon her arrival in Spanish. “When I found out that for “To get to Cuba I didn’t need a visa, I was very excited and bought the ticket.”
The route is expected to operate twice a week and will stop in Madrid, officials said.
Also present at the welcome ceremony were the Minister of Transportation, Eduardo Rodríguez, and the Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, an indicator of the importance that the island’s authorities gave to the arrival of the Air China plane.
“We have worked hard (to achieve the route). I want to tell you that they are here to stay,” declared Marrero.
Tourism became one of the three most dynamic sectors of the Cuban economy, with income exceeding 3 billion dollars annually. This favored the generation of jobs and an improvement in family income.
The countries from which historically the most vacationers came to the island were Canada, Spain, France and Mexico, and also Cubans residing abroad.
Although Americans are prohibited from tourism in Cuba due to Washington’s sanctions against the island, during the past decade a series of relaxations had encouraged many trips from that nation.
These arrivals were reduced due to a radical intensification of the embargo on the island during the presidency of Donald Trump and which has continued during that of his successor Joe Biden, which is intended to pressure the Cuban government to change its political model.
This intensification increased restrictions for Americans to travel to the island, blacklisted hotels and recreational centers, and even prohibited the arrival of cruise ships.
In recent months, Cuban authorities insisted on their interest in promoting the Chinese and Russian tourist markets.
At the beginning of May it had been reported that the visa requirement for Chinese tourists would be eliminated, a measure that became effective on Friday in order to facilitate admission processes to the island. In addition, it was indicated that later electronic visas will begin to be implemented for passengers coming from other destinations.
During the past decade, the increase in Chinese tourism to the island was 23% annually, reaching almost 43,000 people in 2019, when the pandemic drastically slowed arrivals. In 2023 only 18,000 citizens of that nationality arrived.
As for Russians, the other market that is intended to be attracted, last December a gradual process of acceptance of Russian MIR cards began and to date transactions worth 2.7 million dollars have been carried out with that means of payment. through 67,000 operations.
In the first quarter of 2024, 66,000 Russian visitors were received in Cuba, which doubles the number of those who arrived in the same period of 2023. It is expected that, thanks to promotion and agreements, 200,000 people from that country will arrive this year.
During the last International Tourism Fair in April, the authorities had already made clear their interest in promoting these distant visitor markets. Precisely that event was dedicated to Russia and it was announced that the special guest nation for the 2025 event will be precisely China.
But the sector does not quite achieve the expectations set. In December 2023, the government indicated that the arrival of about 3.5 million tourists was expected this year. However, Minister García recently adjusted the estimates to three million.
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