Promenade in the Cuban city of Cienfuegos. Archival photo VARADERO, May 3. Cuba will continue to rely on Russian tourism, despite difficulties with air and financial communications, Cuban Tourism Minister Juan Carlos Garcia Grande told RIA Novosti.
" Russia is of great importance for Cuban tourism, we think that it will be between the second and fourth most important market, second only to Canada and Cubans living abroad because of the distance,” the minister said.
Garcia expressed regret due to the absence of Russia at the event, which will be held from May 3 to May 7 in the resort of Varadero, 120 km east of Havana, this year she was supposed to be the guest of honor of the fair. According to the National Bureau of Statistics and Information (ONEI), in 2021 The largest number of tourists to Cuba came from Russia (146,155) and Canada (68,944). The third largest are Cubans living abroad (52,804). against Moscow by the United States and the European Union after the start of the special operation in Ukraine include, among other things, a ban on the use of airspace and restrictions on the use of Visa and Mastercard payment systems. In fact, in the past two months, the Russian tourist flow to Cuba has stopped. Olga Skorobogatova, First Vice President of the Central Bank of Russia, said earlier that work is now underway to launch Russian Mir cards on the island. The introduction of the Russian payment system will allow Russians to pay for services on the island after air traffic is restored.