Cuba says tourism revenues up

Cuba says tourism revenues up
August 10 2012 at 02:28pm
By SAPA

Cuban tourism revenues were up nearly 13 percent in 2011 from the
previous year, with 2.7 million visitors generating $2.5 billion on the
communist-ruled island, the government said Thursday.

The country posted a $284 million increase from 2010 in the tourism
sector, the second largest source of foreign currency for the troubled
Cuban economy, after professional services, particularly the medical field.

The 12.8 percent increase in tourism revenues is the result of a
7.3-percent increase in the total number of tourists, the government
said, noting that tourists are spending more.

Last year was a record-breaker for Cuban tourism, with increases in
arrivals from Canada, Britain, Russia and Argentina.

The rise in tourism is "proof of growth in our competitiveness, boosted
not only by the quality and diversity of our tourism offerings, but by
the stability and security we provide," the tourism ministry said late
last year.

The majority of tourists, one million, came from Canada - followed by
Britain, Italy, Spain and Germany, according to the "2011 Economic and
Social Outlook" published on the website of the national statistics office.

Cuba faced a major economic crisis following the fall of the Soviet
Union and the economy has since been largely kept afloat by extensive
aid from leftist President Hugo Chavez's Venezuela. - Sapa-AFP

http://www.iol.co.za/business/international/cuba-says-tourism-revenues-up-1.1360105#.UCVKQKDAGU8