Cuba was chosen as the best tourist destination in 2023, according to the American website TripAdvisor, which provides reviews of travel-related content based on the supposed experiences of its users.
The event caused great rejoicing in theofficial media of the Cuban regime, who celebrated that “the Caribbean nation” was the winner in the destination category of 'The Best of the Best' ofTravellers Choice of 2023.
This was reflected by the news agencyLatin Press, which cited the evaluation published by the site, highlighting that “American citizens still have to overcome some obstacles before visiting Cuba, but as visitors from around the world already know, this island offers incredible opportunities for cultural exchange.”
Likewise, they took advantage of the occasion to remember that “at the beginning of this year, TripAdvisor also recognized the largest island in the Caribbean in thefirst place as a fashion destination within the awardsTravellers Choice Awards 2023”.
TripAdvisor, Inc. is funded by advertising and rates tourism destinations and services based on an algorithm known as the popularity rating index.
According to the site, theranking Popularity is based on the quality, recency, and quantity of reviews a business [or destination] receives from users, and the consistency of those reviews over time.
This year, the American site placed Cuba at number one in theranking Traveller’s Choice ‘Best of the Best’, “meaning the highest level of travel excellence.”
The choice of Cuba as the best-rated destination by travelers and TripAdvisor users is surprising andcontrasts with the decline in tourism on the Island, as well as with the increasingly exposedpoor quality of its tourist services and facilities.
Back to December 2021: Manuel Marrero's warnings to TripAdvisor
In mid-December 2021,Cuban exile activists boycotted Google reviews of the SO/Paseo del Prado hotel, in Havana, to denounce the situation of the political prisoners of the dictatorship and the shortcomings of a population that the regime repressed duringthe historic protests of 11J, while concentrating efforts on reviving tourism affected by the pandemic.
"This simple action will limit the entry of money to the Cuban dictatorship. When a tourist checks that hotel they will see the images and comments. This is how we expose the reality of the people," said the activist.Alberto Fonseca, one of the promoters of the idea and brother of one of the more than a thousand political prisoners of the regime.
Just a few hours after the initiative went viral, the prime ministerManuel Marrero Cruz He reacted indignantly to the boycott against Cuban hotels on social networks, during the closing of the IV Ibero-American Summit of Accessible Tourism that was meeting at the Hotel Nacional.
While the country was plunged into disaster and tragedy caused bythe impact of coronavirus, a pandemic that exposed the Cuban regime's impoverished public health system (with a lack of medical oxygen and other basic deficiencies that cost hundreds of lives), Marrero Cruz was proud of the country's opening to international tourism.
“On the 15th we held an event right here andwe open the border, and we open tourism. That hurt a lot of people outside. On the 20th, National Tourism Day was celebrated, November 20. On the 8th of this month, a great international event was held in Cayo Santa María. Almost 500 heads of tour operators, hotel chains. A great event. That has hurt a lot. Well, they have seen that tourism is opening up, it is growing,” said an energetic and rosy-faced Marrero Cruz.
Boasting medical power, the prime minister assured that they had “the guarantee of controlling COVID, but tourism must be affected. Tourism must be attacked. How has it started? Trying to discredit the category of our hotels on social networks.”
“I denounce it from here and I hope that TripAdvisor, which has always been an international reference in the promotion of tourism, used by all countries in the world.I hope you don't give up for this. And I hope that professionalism and seriousness triumph in the face of this claim by minorities,” Marrero Cruz concluded in a threatening tone.
Two years after those words and with theinternational tourism in sharp decline in Cuba, TripAdvisor chooses the country as the best tourist destination in 2023.
Something doesn't add up in this story. Or the Cuban regime has studied the algorithm and has set to work on the Internet to flood the American company with excellent ratings from supposed users; o TripAdvisor has allowed advertising revenue to modulate the content of published reviews.
Announced as “an effective tool to build trust among travelers and boost a brand's reputation,” Cuba's selection as the winner in the 'Best of the Best' destination categoryTravellers Choice from 2023leaves TripAdvisor's objectivity in question before its more than 300 million average users per month.
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