Cuba touts rising tourism

(CNN) -- Cuba's towering mountains, coastal flatlands and temperate climate are drawing tourists in ever-increasing numbers, the country's vice minister for tourism said Monday, despite the United States' 35-year-old policy of discouraging financial dealings with the communist nation.

Italy, Canada, Spain, France, Germany, Mexico and Britain -- all in opposition to the U.S. policy -- provide the bulk of Cuba's tourists, said Eduardo Rodriguez de la Vega. Most Americans are barred from visiting Cuba as tourists by the U.S. embargo on trade with the country.

Cuba expects almost 1.2 million tourists in 1997 -- more than an 18 percent increase over 1996 -- Rodriguez said, and tourism projections are more than 90 percent on track for the year. The country is looking to top 2 million tourists in 2000, he said. Just over 300,000 tourists came to the island in 1990.

Cuba did little to promote tourism after Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution. But since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union -- Cuba's main benefactor -- tourism has become the island nation's second-largest source of international money. Rodriguez offered no estimate of tourist dollars for 1997, but last year's figure was estimated at $850 million, up from $130 million in 1994.

Rodriguez, speaking at a news conference at the El Nacional Hotel -- one of two hotels struck by bomb blasts on July 12 -- said the explosions "have no important significance" to Cuban tourism. The Cuban government has blamed people from the United States for the blasts, which injured at least three people.

"Cuba continues to be the most secure country in the world for tourism," said Rodriguez, who specifically blamed Cuban exiles living in South Florida for the explosions. No one has claimed responsibility and no arrests have been made.

Sound off on our Travel Message Boards You said it...

Weather: Havana City Guides and Maps: Cuba

Related stories:

• Explosions at 2 Havana hotels cause minor injuries - July 12, 1997
• Cuba's Communist proposal ignores other voices - June 27, 1997
• Clinton signs bill aimed at Cuba - March 12, 1996

Related sites:

• Lonely Planet/Destination: Cuba
• Lonely Planet/Destination: Havana
• CubaNet
• U.S. Consular Information Sheet: Cuba
• CDC Travelers' Health: Caribbean

Search for related CNN stories:   [Help] Tip: You can restrict your search to the title of a document. Example: title:New Year's Resolutions

© 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
A Time Warner Company
All Rights Reserved.

Terms under which this service is provided to you.