• Submitted by: manso
• Travel and Tourism
• 03 / 09 / 2011

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2011.03.08 - 14:20:45 / radiorebelde.Investments in tourism. Camagüey, Cuba. - This central-eastern province has the largest number of keys and islands in the country and more than 125 km of beautiful beaches. The latter are associated to keys off the northern and southern coasts. That is to say Camagüey has one of every four kilometers of beaches in Cuba. 

The Archipelago Savanna-Camagüey is off the northern coast, with an extraordinary natural wealth and associated historical and cultural values. That region is a haven for migratory birds and the largest nesting site of pink flamingos. In Key Romano, the largest in Cuba, Ernst Hemingway found location for some of his books. 

But the archipelago is practically virgin and offers the best sun, beach and wildlife conditions for the development of tourism. 

Building for the future 

The investment program for tourism in the province of Camagüey plans to have 21 500 rooms by 2028. 

The northern keys of the territory, part of the Savanna-Camagüey Archipelago, will accommodate 25 new hotels. This archipelago is shared by the provinces of Villa Clara and Ciego de Avila, other tourism resorts of interest in the island. 

The national project plans to build 40 000 rooms in the region that spreads from Villa Clara to Camagüey. More than half will be erected in four keys off the northern coast of this province. They are practically unexploited, although stone roads already lead to Keys Sabinal, Nuevitas, Romano and Cruz, in the area of Esmeralda Municipality. 

Julio Cesar Garcia, first secretary of Cuban Communist Party in the province, confirmed that the construction of new hotels will increase sources of employment and the creation of other housing developments. 

“The workers of the northern municipality of Nuevitas have the highest responsibility in that process of investment in tourism, which includes 6 extra-hotel facilities.” 

“We must put on the builder’s helmet and create two new companies in Nuevitas and the town of Brazil, in the municipality of Esmeralda. In addition, we have to build two housing developments in areas close to Keys Sabinal and Romano. The existing stone roads are meant to help tourism workers commute. 

The project will provide new sources of employment for Nuevitas citizens and also for the workers of the whole northern region of the province. 

The province today has 1 500 hotel rooms in St. Lucia Beach Resort and the cities of Camagüey and Florida. 

There is one job in services for each hotel room in Cuba. Thus, by 2028 the labor force will have grown, only for that concept, in 21 500 new jobs.  If the project size is compared to Varadero Resort, the largest in Cuba with beach and sun destination; it would be like transferring that infrastructure to 4 keys of the northern coast of Camagüey Province.  
 
And more land in production…  
 
In the northern municipality of Nuevitas, employment sources are also growing, with the exploitation of new areas given to individuals through Decree-Law 259. These lands will be used to grow vegetables, grains and root-cops and for cattle raising. We seek to ensure all the food that tourism in the region requires. 

Nowadays, about 3 000 vacationers are lodged in St. Lucia Beach Resort. Therefore, providing services to the newly multiplied potential also demands additional investments in irrigation systems and water supply for agricultural development. The transferred water will come from Holguin, crossing the north of Las Tunas Province until the area between the cities of Nuevitas and Guaimaro. 

These projects will also incentivize farmers, cooperatives and state companies, as well as individual peasants, since their crops will have more markets and demand. 

The investment process also envisages the modernization of old industries. New technologies and modern equipment will be introduced for the economic development that the country requires. This includes the refurbishment of the old “July 26” cement factory, in the municipality of Nuevitas, with more than 30 years of exploitation. 

Julio Cesar Garcia stressed that there will be much to do this year and the next, 2012. By 2013, we want an economy with a satisfactory financial balance; not only domestically, but also in the international market. 

Camagüey citizens will undertake new investment programs in several key sectors of the economy of this province, the largest in Cuba.

By: Miozotis Fabelo  and  Translated by: Pedro A. Fanego Sea