Santiago de Cuba readies for winter tourist season

SANTIAGO de CUBA, Nov 6 (NNN-ACN) — The tourist sector in this Eastern Cuban province readies for the winter season with refurbished hotels, certified personnel and the signing of accords with foreign companies.

Tourism official in the province Zoraida Lozano told the Cuban News Agency air connections from Spain to the territory as of Nov 11 is a major event favoring the tourist season.

Meanwhile the International Tourism Fair, held in May, help raise the interest of foreign tour-operators in the local history, heritage and culture, which are major attractions here.

The fall of tourism over the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic gave time to recover and redesign some sun-and-beach tourist facilities, said the official who stressed the attractive cuisine and drinks exclusive to the eastern Cuban territory for those who pick this area for their holidays.

Separately, Canada’s Blue Diamond Resort Hotel Company started on Friday its management operations of tourist facilities on Cayo Largo Key, south of western Cuba.

Four of 11 refurbished tourist facilities opened on Friday as other will progressively start operations, according to PL news agency.

The hotels Memories Cayo Largo, Starfish Cayo Largo, The Villas Linda Mar and Marina were the first to welcome guests offering a wide array of services and fine hotel rooms.

This is the first step to achieve a big change in the local tourist industry of this Cuban region, said Mohamad Fawzi, general director of Blue Diamond Resorts Hotel Chain.

The Canadian company will manage 1,348 hotel rooms including four all-inclusive resorts and seven villas which will open progressively in winter, said the executive.

The Cayo Largo Key tourist center is owned by the Cuban Gran Caribe Tourist Group and it’s now under the management of Blue Diamond Resorts, which operates over 45 tourist facilities with more than 18 thousand hotel rooms in eight Caribbean nations.