García Granda: “We work for our people, for the development of our tourism”

Cuba is investing efforts in strengthening the quality of services in the tourism industry, according to Tourism Minister Juan Carlos García Granda, in exclusive statements to the press at the conclusion of the 15th Varadero Gourmet International Festival, which ran for three days at the Plaza América Convention Center.

Looking ahead to this winter, “tourism has created the conditions to guarantee the necessary resources to ensure these quality standards. The proof will be our continued growth,” he said, according to a Cuba Plus Magazine article.

Regarding tense situations that could occur, such as the National Electric System outage on September 10, he added, “We’ve been through a complicated situation these past few days, but I believe we’ve sent a message to the world by holding this quality event, which has demonstrated that tourism is prepared for emergency situations; that it has the workers, the conditions, and the technology for this.”

He recalled that these response capabilities were part of Fidel Castro’s vision from the beginning.

The Canadian market is on the rise

“The Canadian market is advancing, recovering, and has been growing in recent months.

It’s a very loyal market, but with loyal markets, as with all our clients, we have to provide the quality they expect, and I believe that is the result we have achieved,” the minister noted.

He also reflected on the importance of achieving tangible achievements in the sector, demonstrating capabilities that reinforce the confidence of all tour operators, clients and markets.

“I insist: it’s not that I really want to differentiate; everyone knows the conditions under which we operate tourism, the media war that exists, a ruthless war,” he remarked, referring to the tensions caused by the US administration, which has launched smear campaigns focused on reducing travel to Cuba.

Our main competitor is the North American market, which we don’t have access to despite being our ideal market. He pointed out, however, that “what no one can take away from us is the enthusiasm, the hope and the desire to always fight, not by being utopian,” but by working hard.

“I believe the results are showing, and we think this winter will be much better than what we’ve had,” he said.