Varadero is swinging its doors wide open in the year 2002 to the 22nd Tourism Convention, this time around in the light of a new conception heightened by Cuba's successes following the island nation's status as honor guest at the Berlin ITB.

In this respect, we talked to the delegate of Cuba's Ministry of Tourism in the province of Matanzas, Mr. Lester Felipe, who outlined his own assessments to Caribbean Tourist Excellencies:

“This is Mr. Lester said a fabulous idea that will provide Varadero with a chance to show off to the world its many virtues as one of the country's major and most strengthened tourist circuits, where the melting of the sun and beach product into both nature and cultural tourism has chalked up a special scope through the decisive incorporation of such cities as Matanzas and Cardenas, as well as the Zapata Peninsula region.”

When referring to the Convention's new outlay, the MINTUR's delegate made clear what its real essence should be all about: “To guarantee tour operators, travel agents, FAN groups from our top sending markets and the authorized press corps a hassle-free, direct access to our products.”

Main course of action A considerable chunk of new products will be presented within the framework of the convention. On the other hand, new trade and exchange relationships are in the offing, alongside the signing of majo operation contracts with our leading tour operators: tours, guided visits, seminars, everything in order to give the Varadero destination a chance to make a resounding splash.

Master lectures conducted by personalities from the tourism realm will also take place at the Plaza America Conference Center, an element destined to have a positive impact in raising service quality.

A favorable element here is the coincidence of the convention date with a World Tourism Organization's regional event scheduled to be held on the premises of this Conference Center.

As to preparations for the convention, Mr. Felipe says that “right now, there's a well-structured program in place that guarantees the tourist circuit's conditions to promote the event, welcome and assist attendees, and map out a number of well-defined actions and activities.” He finally concluded: “I'm confident that we'll break the necessary groundwork here to pull off this event on the basis of its principle reading Convention All Year Long.”