Cuba was awarded the 2021 Best Cultural Destination within the Caribbean by the World Travel Awards, in a 12 months wherein the island’s tourism sector suffered the worst decline in recent many years as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Within the twenty eighth edition of those awards, that are awarded annually by a global jury of experts related to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the island beat its competitors from the Caribbean in considered one of the greater than 50 categories in dispute, based on the World Travel Awards website.
Cuba fue reconocida como el Mejor Destino Cultural del Caribe 2021 por los World Travel Awards, premios otorgados anualmente por un jurado internacional de expertos asociados al Consejo Mundial de Viajes y Turismo.https://t.co/dPYSFd330E
— Universidad de La Habana (@UdeLaHabana) October 22, 2021
“As a cultural destination, Cuba offers travelers countless attractions, amongst that are World Heritage cities akin to Havana, Trinidad and Santiago de Cuba; musical and dancing expressions of great value akin to the son, the rumba and the Tumba Francesa,” underlined the Buen Viaje a Cuba online magazine, cited by Cubadebate.
“Added to this are monumental architectural samples in various cities and a vibrant life in squares and streets, momentarily stopped as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but already showing encouraging signs of revival,” the source added.
Cuba opens to tourism
The jury recognized the Hotel Nacional as the very best facility of its kind, while it awarded the Best Suite award to the Lorca Presidential room on the Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski, each in Havana.
Likewise, the award for Best Vacation Resort went to Meliá Las Dunas in Cayo Santa María and the Inbound Cuba agencies, as best Tour Operator on the island, Cuba Direct (Travel Agency) and CubaForTravel (comprehensive management of trips to this nation), the source indicated.
The World Travel Awards recognize, reward and have fun excellence in all key sectors of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry around the globe.
Cuba barely received 225,417 foreign tourists and travelers until last May, almost two million lower than in the identical period of 2020, based on data from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI).
Until the fifth month of 2021, 88,239 foreign tourists arrived on the island, 895,893 lower than in that stage the previous 12 months, and within the category of travelers there have been 137,178 between January and May, 1,097,074 less; a drastic reduction attributed to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cuba recibió menos de 250.000 turistas y viajeros hasta mayo
The publication indicates that in Cuba any one that travels between two or more different countries is taken into account a traveler; meanwhile, international visitors are defined as those that come for the aim of leisure, recreation, business or other personal reasons and arrive in a rustic apart from the one where they reside for at the very least one 12 months.
By country of origin, official statistics indicate that in the course of the stage 52,044 travelers and visitors arrived in Cuba from Russia (11,164 less), 4,501 from Germany (35,227 less), 3,060 from Spain (18,008 less) and from Canada only 2,278 (401,342 less).
