By Andrea Rodriguez
The Associated Press
Posted May 18 2007
HAVANA · Cuba says it will spend about $185 million to upgrade more than
200 resorts, golf courses, marinas and other amenities to try to reverse
a dip in tourism to the island.
The government has said the number of visitors to the island dropped by
about 100,000 last year to 2.2 million, hitting the communist nation's
leading source of income. Washington's 45-year-old trade embargo
prohibits American tourists from going to Cuba and chokes off most trade
between the countries.
Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero announced the development plan last week
at a tourism fair that was closed to the international press.
The plan detailed this week in Opciones, a state-run newspaper for
foreign investors, will run through 2010 and seeks to make Cuba more
competitive.
About $162 million will be used to upgrade non-hotel amenities, such as
golf courses, yacht clubs and theme parks.
Other funds will be used to build 50 boutique inns around the country in
addition to 10 already under construction and to improve the country's
outdated highways, Marrero said.
Opciones did not say how many tourists have visited Cuba so far this
year, but quoted Marrero as saying that "in 2007, for the fourth
consecutive year, the number will be greater than 2 million visitors."
Many international visitors complain that Cuba is excessively expensive,
especially because of a tax on required currency exchanges.
Also at the fair, aviation officials announced plans to improve airports
in Havana and four other cities. Heriberto Prieto, first vice president
of Cuba's Civil Aviation Institute, said almost a dozen new planes were
being added to the island's passenger fleet.
Tourism, which generates about $2 billion a year in Cuba, became a major
source of income in the 1990s after the Soviet Union's collapse and the
loss of crucial aid and trade.
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