Agrandir

Agrandir

Agrandir

With the aim of knowing the singularities of this segment, its development and perspectives in Cuba, Caribbean Tourism Excellences magazine, consulted documents advanced by Mr. Eulogio Rodríguez, President of the Convention Bureau of Cuba and interviewed Mr. Regino Cruz, Director of the incentive section of this Bureau.

Particularities of an Incentive Tourism The organizers of a trip of this kind, always paid a visit of inspection to know in advance the proposed program, but that of every group has to be a "tailored-made suit". Every enterprise aspires that its trip is unique and unrepeatable; to achieve this, a high standard professionalism should be implemented, and especially, much creativity and talent. Its complex nature is rewarded since it generates three or six times more revenues than those gathered through the conventional tourism.

Incentive Tourism in Cuba: History and Present The incentive tourism segment reaches its highest development in the last 6 years. In 1999, 45,000 tourists were received in groups of this kind and the objective of this year is to double the figure and raise it to 119,000 in 2003. To maintain this growth, Cuba counts on a culture of events and a professional technical foundation, excellent centers and convention hotels, but the most significant of our programs is summarized in elements such as culture and the Cuban national identity, the quality and idiosyncrasy of the people and the political and social stability among other things.

Who Comes and Which is the Destination? Currently the main markets of Cuba are located in Europe, Spain, France and Italy as major countries that send tourists to the island. According to official statistics, 10% of the tourism that arrives in Cuba comes to participate in congresses, conventions and incentive trips. Havana is a perfect scenario for this type of trips for the quality of its halls, hotels, centers of alternative recreation and, especially for its history and human warmth.

Projections of Incentive Tourism in Cuba According to the WTO forecasts, the number of tourists will reach 1,600 million in 2020 and the products that register a higher growth will be the events and the adventure tourism, also practiced by many incentive groups.

To effectively answer the expected growth, Cuba is aimed at identifying possible markets, participating in specialized fairs, presentations and contacts with the main press organs of the sector. Actions are to be made that enable the best use of its potentialities and to open the doors of the great sending markets for this tourism segment while, at the same time, contacts are expanded with the main incentive houses and enterprises that search new destinations.

The agreement signed by the Ministry of Tourism and the Convention Bureau of Cuba on price policy, enables the implementation of encouraging views in the low season.

With the VIP services for VIP users, Cuba will contribute to materialize the aspiration of the tourism professionals in events and incentive trips in this part of the world: to take to our region 12% of the world market.

LOCALIZACIONES PARA TURISMO DE EVENTOS E INCENTIVOS:

La Habana: Complejo Palacio de Convenciones ( Incluye el hotel Palco y el recinto ferial PABEXPO); capitolio de La Habana, recinto ferial EXPOCUBA, Casa de la Amistad, Centro de Eventos ORTOP, Club Habana, Salón Arcos de Cristal. Además, hay condiciones creadas en los hoteles Golden Tulip Parque Central, Habana Libre Tryp, Meliá Cohiba, Meliá Habana, Nacional de Cuba, Ambos Mundos, Comodoro, Copacabana, Habana Riviera, La Pradera, Neptuno- Tritón, Novotel Miramar, Bello Caribe, Horizontes Capri, Horizontes Deauville y Horizontes Panamericanos Resort.

Varadero: Centro de Convenciones Plaza América y hotel Meliá Varadero.

Holguín: Hoteles Meliá Río de Oro y Pernik.

Santiago de Cuba: Centro de Convenciones Teatro Heredia y hotel Meliá Santiago de Cuba.

Pinar del Río: Hotel Horizontes Los Jazmines