Cuban Tourism Board reveals country's surging popularity as holiday destination

The Cuban Tourism Board has revealed that Cuba welcomed a record high of 455,355 visitors in March 2016, and more than two million visitors in the first half of 2016.

Meanwhile, data from the travel search website Kayak indicates that Cuba’s capital of Havana is becoming an increasingly popular destination for Canadian travellers. Interest in the city has soared, with a 230 per cent increase in searches compared to last year.

Cuba is now the second most travelled-to destination in the Caribbean, welcoming more than four million tourists in 2016 overall. This was an increase of nearly 14.5 per cent compared to 2015. Cuba also received 3.5 million visitors in 2015, a 17.4 per cent increase from 2014.

Canada continues to be a leading source of tourists, followed by Germany, Great Britain, the U.S., France, Italy, Mexico and Argentina. According to Travel and Leisure magazine, Cuba plans to build 100,000 new accommodations, mainly all inclusive beach resorts, by 2030, as part of its National Plan for Economic and Social Development.

Several luxury hotels are also slated to open their doors in 2017, with the Cuban Tourism Board announcing the opening of the following properties:

• Angsana Cayo Santa Maria – 252 rooms in Cayo Las Brujas-Cayo Santa Maria
• Catalonia Cayo Guillermo – 500 rooms in Catalonia Cayo Guillermo
• Grand Muthu Cayo Guillermo – 550 rooms in Cayo Guillermo
• Iberostar Bella Vista Varadero – 827 rooms in Varadero
• Iberostar Holguin – 638 rooms in Holguin
• Sercotel Experience Cayo Santa Maria – 660 rooms in Cayo Las Brujas-Cayo Santa Maria

Further information about Cuba is available at www.gocuba.ca.