Q & A with Loretta Garcia Tourism Deputy Director for the Flora & Fauna Group
Q- How has Flora & Fauna fared so far in the country as far as achievements and perspectives are concerned?
A- This is a group made up of three companies; Flora & Fauna –under the leadership of Cuba’s Ministry of Agriculture- COTUR Travel S.A., and ALCON S.A., a marketing company. We’re growing right now as companies and the ongoing year is looking pretty good.
Our main mission is the preservation of flora species and wildlife in the 49 protected areas scattered all across the island nation, as well as the conservation of a genetic stock of thoroughbreds. We’ve been meeting all of our goals and getting some new projects off the drawing board.
Q- Can you hint at some of those new projects now in the works?
A- As to projects targeting protected areas, first of all I must say we’ve added a few more to the list. Our domain now stretches out for 1.3 million hectares of land. That means new sites that have lost some of their own values, so our mission now is to rescue and restore those values. For instance, in the zone of Jaruco, not far from Havana, we’ve chalked up a new protected area that’s called Galindo. We’ve already logged the Yunque de Baracoa, a few areas in the outskirts of Santiago de Cuba, plus other areas whose inscription is now in progress.
Our own travel agency is also going strong. This agency’s primary target is nature tourism and our being here at the Convention has to do with, first of all, the need to sell all our offers. One of the highlights is a safari by jeep around Varadero’s natural areas –a tour that drew plenty of attention in the first third of the ongoing year- and the sale of all offers in our national parks, including the Turquino and the Desembarco del Granma national parks. By the way, the latter was declared Heritage of Mankind by UNESCO and features great trekking trails and good sites for birdwatchers. But you can also see that in other parks nationwide. We’ve got protected areas from Pinar del Rio all the way to Guantanamo and around the keys, too.
As far as new tourism projects are concerned, yesterday we unveiled a new one that’s just about to begin as soon as all the legal paperwork is done. I’m talking about hydroplane rides that make travelers reach far-off places around the country much faster, including some of the protected areas. The first flight will bring tourists from Varadero to the south side of the island and the Canarreos Keys. This is something that visitors are asking for because they’ve never been there due to transportation problems. Now all is takes is a 50-minute plane ride from Varadero to southern Cuba. This is a product that actually bears watching, make no mistakes about it. We also have other projects here in the province of Matanzas, like the Yumuri Valley Farming Park, a project that’s well advanced because we’ve already chosen the staff and there’re some clear ideas about what we really want to do there. This project is a joint effort with the Cubanacan Group to make vacationers interact with friendly animals. We’re also making a nature park on Romero Key for birdwatchers and trekkers that includes wading birds from the keys and in which we’ll show off all the management work we carry out on the keys off northern Matanzas province.
Q- Are there any perspectives in store?
A- We’re constantly developing our company, coming up with more ideas and more initiatives with each passing day and zeroing in on the need to branch out Cuba’s tourist product and add more extra-hotel facilities for visitors. Finally I’d like to say that we’ll soon be hosting the 2004 TURNAT, the Nature Tourism Convention scheduled to get started on September 27 in the Alturas de Banao Flower Reserve in Sancti Spiritu. I’m telling attendants that our company will present more nature-tourism products there. The place is fabulous, near Topes de Collantes, in an area that I call the second Escambray Mountain Range, and is teeming with luring scenery for trekkers, let alone countless flora and wildelife species to gaze at.