• Submitted by: manso
• Travel and Tourism
• 03 / 16 / 2011

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15 de marzo de 2011, By Antonio Rondón García.  Moscow, Mar 15 (Prensa Latina) Cuba seeks to increase the offers to the Russian tourism market, including accommodations in the cays of the island, said today the Cuban vice minister for international affairs in the Ministry of Tourism, Maria Elena Lopez Reyes.

Until March 10, the Cuban tourism industry grew by 14 percent compared to the same period last year, although those are preliminary figures, said Lopez in an exclusive to Prensa Latina.

For its part, in 2010 Russia registered an increase of 68.7 percent compared to 2009, she said.

The Cuban ministry of tourism seeks to establish contacts for future contracts in the coming seasons, both summers and winters of 2011 and 2012, she said. As for the winter season, the negotiations are aimed at ensuring the growth of Russian tourism, based on the increase of flights, said the vice minister.

We now have direct flights to Varadero and we are working to achieve others to places like Santa Maria, Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo for the end of 2011, she said.

To us it means the possibility of expanding Russian destinations in Cuba because Varadero is a well known tourist destination, but it becomes saturated, especially in winter, she noted.

Cuba is not only a sun and beach destination, because we have tourist attractions like our culture, history and attractive cities in addition to the nautical recreation, she added.