Cuban Tourism Aims at Advancing Nautical Travel

This year’s edition of the “Ernest Hemingway” Billfishing Tournament has witnessed an overwhelming majority of participating boats and anglers from the U.S., a rare scene before the thaw in relations between Cuba and the United States. Until then, American boats and sportspeople were simply barred from attending Cuba’s number-one fishing tournament.

Cuba’s Vice Minister of Tourism, Luis Miguel Diaz Sanchez, talked Monday afternoon with Caribbean News Digital, precisely within the framework of the Hemingway Billfishing Tournament that officially opened at the marina named after the Nobel Prize-winning U.S. author, located on the west side of Havana.  

Vice Minister Diaz Sanchez spoke about the major turnout of American boats to this year’s event, the massive arrival of U.S. tourists in the island nation, the country’s tourism development plans and the potentials of the largest Caribbean island as far as nautical travel is concerned.

CND: This has been the edition of the “Ernest Hemingway” Billfishing Tournament that has drawn the largest amount of U.S. boats and anglers. What do you make of this massive American turnout for the 2016 event?

Vice Minister Diaz Sanchez: This time around the attendance of Americans has been overwhelming, and this has to do with the new relations between the two countries since December 17, 2014. This certainly brings hopes for far more visitors to come to Cuba because we’re right building the infrastructure to receive that large number of U.S. tourists.

CND: To a naked eye, you can see all the work you guys have done at the marine prior to this event. Have these overhauls also been done with the sight on the future?

Vice Minister Diaz Sanchez: We’ve been working for many days and the true heroes here are the workers and the management of this major compound that, together with Cuba’s Federation of Sports Fishing, INDER (Cuban Institute of Sports, Physical Education and the Recreation) and all authorities -Customs, the Harbormaster’s Office and others- have made built all the infrastructure inside this larger-than-life facility. This is like a small engine that’s now running to start a bigger motor that will eventually turn this international marina into the kind of facility it is today, but hoping to see some 500 to 700 slips in the near future.

CND: With the Marine Hemingway and other marinas across the country, Cuba is gearing up to welcome a massive arrival of U.S. boats? How many boats can dock in the country right now?

Vice Minister Diaz Sanchez: Cuba’s tourism development was never focused on the United States. There’s a development policy within the Ministry of Tourism that’s updated with each passing year and adapts itself to the potentials and the demand Cuba has. There’s no doubt the U.S. outbound market is included in this policy. It’s just so close to us, but it’s been off limits so far.

These Americans that have come today hadn’t been to Cuba before not because they didn’t want to come, but because they weren’t allowed to come. They are here today and we welcome them with the tremendous hospitality the Cuba people show for whoever visits this island nation.

CND: You’ve mentioned the need to build on the country’s travel infrastructure. What plans does the Ministry of Tourism has in store to deal with this issue?

Vice Minister Diaz Sanchez: As part of its development strategy, Cuba is not only banking on the construction of more guestrooms. Today, we have 65,500 hotel rooms and we want to reach 130,000 in coming years, at a building pace of 2,500 rooms per year. Yet, this also calls for more infrastructure and more logistics, and within them, we need to work on extra-hotel offers, and that includes nautical tourism because Cuba is an island. Therefore, more cruise ships have been calling, more yachts have been docking, scuba diving is also on the rise and so are other nautical activities.

CND: Could Cuba become the next Saint Martin or just any other island where boat rental would be one of the allures to embark on a sailing trip around the island nation?

Vice Minister Diaz Sanchez: I think that like St. Martin, Curacao, Bonaire or any other Caribbean island, Cuba has what it takes to achieve that. Not just because it’s the largest Caribbean island, but because of its geographical location right at the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico.

Cuba hosted recently the Summit of the Association of Caribbean States, and every step of the way our President and all attendees referred to this region as the Grand Caribbean. That’s why I believe we have the possibilities and the potentials, just like any other Caribbean island, to move on with the advance of nautical tourism. As an island nation Cuba has tremendous potentials, and that explains why we need to build the right infrastructure and develop this niche as much as we do with all other travel options, such as sun and beach.