With a hotel occupancy of 27.9% in the first half of 2023 (latest data published by ONEI) andless than three million international tourists that year, the Cuban regime continues to invest in the construction of hotels.
This was evident when the news broke that the companyBlue Diamond will assume the launch of three other tourist facilities in eastern Cuba, under the name of Mystique Saratoga.
Starting with the Saratoga, Caballeriza and Esmeralda hotels, the Canadian chain hopes to create “a high-standard boutique complex,” he confirmed toACN Yander Rodriguez, general director of said facilities, managed by the Cubanacán group, belonging to the business conglomerate held by the military of the Cuban regime (GAESA).
In addition, Blue Diamond will take over the management of a part of the Club Amigo Atlántico Guardalavaca hotel that will be added to the Mystique seal, used to define hotels with intimate environments and highly personalized attention, which even includes "butler" service. The first of this label in Cuba, inaugurated in November 2021 in Varadero, was the exclusive Mystique Casa Perla,the first "boutique hotel" on the Island.
According to the official agency, by grouping Blue Diamond with the tour operator Sunwing and Westjet as its own airline, in addition to its travel agencies, the flow of visitors will be guaranteed throughout the year.
Blue Diamond already manages other facilities in the province, including the Grand Memories Holguín Hotel and the Sanctuary at Grand Memories Holguín section, both on the Ramón de Antilla peninsula and belonging to the Gaviota group.
As if that were not enough, the Cuban regime plans the inauguration in 2024 of a hotel on Yuraguanal beach, with about 600 rooms, and another on the Ramón de Antilla peninsula.
GAESA, "owner" of Holguín
In October 2021, users on social networksThey denounced the eviction of families in the coastal town of El Ramón de Antilla, as part of an ambitious tourism development plan in the area led by Grupo de Gestión Empresarial S.A. (GAESA).
Photographs and videos began to be shared on digital platforms in which members of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) raided homes with the intention of forcibly displacing the families that still remain in El Ramón.
The plan was conceived in 2017, when the Cuban regime approved a plan to expand the tourist hotel plant in Holguín where, according to statements by the prime ministerManuel Marrero Cruz -then Minister of Tourism-, “the most important decision is the development of the Ramón de Antilla peninsula”, with capacity for at least 19 thousand rooms.
“El Ramón de Antilla is currently invaded by red and black berets, since GAESA is building several luxurious hotels on its beaches, and they do not want its residents, my family, nearby,” user Alexander Silva denounced in October 2021 on Facebook.
Nothing stops the hotel voracity of the Cuban regime. Not even the data from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), which reflecteda hotel occupancy of 15.6% during 2022. The terrible result, however, represented a recovery of more than 200% compared to 2021, when only 5.7% of hotel rooms were occupied.
The numbers improved in 2023, when the ONEI put the number of international visitors at 2.4 million, falling below the expectations expressed by the Minister of Tourism.Juan Carlos García Granda, which expected to receive about 3.5 million visitors throughout that year.
Last August, a report from the ONEI indicated that the investment from January to June 2023 in health and social assistance was only 583.3 million pesos; while it allocated 2,325.3 million to hotels and restaurants.
For the economistPedro Monreal, the statistic "confirmsthe persistence of a deformed investment structure in Cuba", which again prioritized "activities mainly articulated around tourism, despite the notable difficulties in attracting tourists."
The Cuban Observatory of Social Audit (OCAC) expressed itself in harsher terms, whichaccused GAESA of looting Cuba's public health system for more than a decade. In its report, the NGO accused the oligopoly of looting the State coffers to allegedly appropriate at least 69.8 billion dollars.
What do you think?
COMMENTFiled in:
