Cuban Tourism Wins
Awards in Argentina
Cuba's tourism industry
ratified its outstanding
and solid presence in
Argentina on Friday,
when it won three
Bitacora 2007 awards
granted by the
prestigious newspaper El
Mensajero.
The representative
office of Havanatur S.A.
in Argentina won the
Gold Bitacora Award as
Cuba's Best Tour
Operator, and Cubana de
Aviacion's tour agency,
Sol y Son, won the
Silver Bitacora Award.
Cuba also received the
Bronze Bitacora Award to
the Best Promoted
Foreign Tourist
Destination, a category
where Mexico won the
gold prize and Brazil
the silver award.
"In 2006 we also won the
gold award, so for the
second year in a row
they have acknowledged
our results and the
challenge for excellence
that we have set for
ourselves," Maribel
Fernandez, president of
Havanatur S.A. in
Argentina, told Prensa
Latina.
She added that the
company's plan for 2007
was to take 4,000
tourists to Cuba, but
4,500 vacationers had
traveled to the
Caribbean Island until
November, accounting for
a 50-percent increase
compared to last year.
According to Mario Ramos
Alvarez, director of
Cuba's Tourist
Information and
Promotion Office for the
South Cone, "getting a
third place is an
achievement among so
many circuits that are
sold here and we expect
to climb one step up
next year."
He added that as a
tourist destination,
Cuba's sales increased
23 percent in 2007
compared to last year,
as a result of many more
flights, more travel
agents and operators to
sell the Cuba product.
Ramos noted, "37,000
tourists will travel to
Cuba this year and next
year's plan is more than
40,000 vacationers, as
five flights a week will
operate to and from
Cuba, in contrast to
three flights at
present."
The tourist publication
El Mensajero grants the
Bitacora Awards in 28
categories, including
best airline, hotel
chain, tour operator,
tourist destination and
car-rental company,
among others. |
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