The Cuban hotel industry is immersed in an all-embracing expansion process ready to face the new challenges posed by the steady progress of the hospitality industry in the island.

The much-expected year 2000 has placed Cuban hotel industry before a challenge impossible to imagine fifteen years ago. It's quite a task to accommodate 2 million visitors in barely 12 months and meet a wide range of tastes. To face such a commitment presupposes a basic and first condition: the availability of 34,700 hotel rooms, most of them brand new, 4 or 5-star category, mainly located in city or beach tourist resorts. The Cuban hotel industry underwent a fast expansion process in the 1990's, reaching an average annual increase of 11.6% between 1990 and 1998. This made possible that the number of rooms drastically raised from barely 12,900 rooms ready to accommodate the international tourism to almost 31,000 rooms at the end of 1998. It is worthy of mentioning that these increases have been ruled by two fundamental premises: the strictest implementation of guidelines comprising protection standards, respect to the environment and a rigorous territorial management and organization plan to ensure the development of regions as the cays located on the north of Ciego de Ávila province, the north littoral of Camagüey and Holguín provinces, the southeastern and central coast, the Archipelago of Canarreos or the western province of Pinar del Río. Thus the traveler that determines to enjoy a pleasure or business trip in Cuba in the brand-new year 2000 may find as is the case when many places are available to choose, a long range of possibilities to decide where to temporarily settle his second residence.

NOVELTIES AND PROJECTS Over 190 establishments now provide accommodation services for international tourism in Cuba. Most of them operated by major national hotel chains as Gran Caribe Hotel Group, Horizontes Hotels, Cubanacán Hotels, Gaviota S.A. Tourism Group, Islazul and Habaguanex, though an increasing number of them are already subject to management and marketing contract with prestigious chains of Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean or are the result of joint ventures. It is now widely acknowledged that the traveler who visited Cuba in a given moment and then returns 12 months later will find himself not updated regarding the possibilities of enjoying high-ranking hotels. For example, a tourist who came to the island in 1998 and determined to return in the year 2000, may find names that are entirely new for him as Meliá Cayo Coco Hotel or Iberostar Daiquirí Hotel at Jardines del Rey cays, Arenas Blancas Hotel or Beaches Varadero Hotel, Villa Real Covarrubias Hotel in Las Tunas or Breezes Jibacoa Hotel in the north littoral of Havana province. The same is true in the case of a visitor who was in Cuba before the present winter season and returns at the end of the year to welcome the year 2000 here. A long list of hotels will be brand new as LTI Costa Verde Beach Resort located at Pesquero Beach in the eastern province of Holguín, Novotel Miramar on the capital, Hostal Comendador in the very historic area of Havana City or Trinidad del Mar Hotel. Hotel projects, both entirely Cuban or with the participation of foreign capital are abundant in the island. Last year only some 10,260 rooms in different construction stages were registered with the addition of new forms of development as condominiums and multiproperties. Cuba, according to the forecasts made by local institutions and consultant international enterprises, especially hired for that purpose, has a potential of 70,000 visitors expected to arrive for the coming year 2000 and this means that in the middle of the new decade that will soon begin, will be indispensable to have between 8,000 and 10,000 rooms available per year to meet the demand of international tourism.