Cuban Tourism Bets on High Standard, Minister Says

Cuban Minister of Tourism Manuel Marrero noted that the inauguration of the Hotel Iberostar Grand Packard in Havana is the beginning of a new era for the sector, which is betting on the high-standard segment, local media reported.

At the hotel's inauguration on Saturday, which was chaired by Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, Marrero pointed out that the Spanish company Iberostar has been present in Cuba since 1993 and it currently runs 27 hotels, but from now on, the Grand Packard, on the emblematic Prado Promenade, is the top exponent of exclusiveness.

He added that the hotel is a well-deserved gift to Havana, a World Wonder City, on its 500th anniversary, and added that the number of international tourist arrivals in the country has increased, so a new record will be set at the end of this year.

According to the newspaper Juventud Rebelde, Marrero stated that this achievement has been possible despite the tightening of the US blockade of Cuba, particularly the bans on travel, 'where Cuba is still the only country in the world where a US citizen cannot travel freely as a tourist by law.

The Hotel Iberostar Grand Packard is the second five-star-plus establishment in Cuba, the newspaper added.

For his part, Iberostar President Miguel Fluxa Rosello noted that the Grand Packard proves what Cuba is in terms of possibilities and efforts.