Tourism records in Cuba in January 2011
Havana.- Cuba registered last January an international record of tourist arrivals to the Island.The National Statistics Office (NSO) said that in the first month of 2011, 222,296 visited the Caribbean country for a year-on-year growth of 15.9 percent.
Compared with the same periods in 2007, 2008 and 2009, the number represents an increase of 33.9, 19.2 and 10.5 percent respectively and means a good start for the Cuban tourist industry in 2011, said the NSO.
Cuban authorities are planning to raise the number of international tourist arrivals up to 2.7 million this year, from 2.5 million last year, which saw a 4.2-percent growth over 2009, Cuban press informed.
Tourism is Cuba's second largest revenue source after the delivery of medical and other professional services in other countries, especially Venezuela, for which the island nation receives some 6 billion U.S. dollars annually. (Source: NSO)