Cuba will showcase the very best of its travel industry at the International Tourism Fair in Madrid (FITUR 2006). According to Antonio Esquivel, representative of the island nation´s Tourism Ministry in Spain, the Cuban delegation will be headed by Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero, who´s expected to present the finest Cuban products on Thursday. Mr. Esquivel explained that a number of tourism and travel experts from the Caribbean´s largest island will be around at the Madrid fair to conduct negotiations and cut deals with foreign companies interested in Cuba.

Spain´s FITUR keeps flexing its muscles and strengthening as the world´s number-two tourism and travel fair, trailing only behind Berlin´s ITB. However, the economic impact of the Madrid event is hard to assess, according to FITUR´s chief Ana Larrañaga. Recent stats revealed by the fair´s organizers lay bare that approximately 87 percent of participants to previous editions have expressed satisfaction with the positive outcomes of the tradeshow.