FITCUBA 2024: A “resounding success” according to Cuba’s Minister of Tourism

By Daily Pérez Guillén

Next year’s International Tourism Fair will be held in Havana, showcasing Cuba’s traditions and featuring China as guest country, as announced by the Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García Granda, on closing the 42nd edition of the event at the Hotel Vilá Galé Cayo Paredón, located in the northern keys of the Jardines del Rey archipelago.

In the presence of the Ambassador of the Asian country, Ma Hui, the Cuban minister also announced that Chinese citizens with ordinary passports would be exempted from requiring visas to visit Cuba as tourists.

García Granda stressed that FITCUBA 2024 had been “a resounding success,” and that the event “exceeded” expectations. More than 1,500 foreign professionals participated in this edition, including 437 travel agents on familiarization trips, he noted.

The most important event of the Cuban travel industry was attended by representatives from 68 countries, including those from Latin America and the Caribbean, to whom this edition was dedicated. The majority came from Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia.

FITCUBA offered an opportunity for the Cuban Ministry of Tourism to showcase the innovation of the Caribbean island’s tourism products, including through the digitalization of processes, the expansion in the use of renewable energy sources, the transformations to improve accessibility and the strategies to ensure environmentally friendly practices, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

The sector minister reiterated that Cuba would implement a new electronic visa system for tourists as of May 17, which will replace the current tourist card, to facilitate the flow of international travelers to the country.

Shortly after the closing ceremony, García Granda held a wide-ranging exchange with the press on various topics related to the prospects of the leisure industry in Cuba.