Havana, September 22 (PL-RHC) -– Beginning today, the tourism campaign “Authentic Cuba” will promote the holiday resorts on the island in the east central region of Russia -- an untapped market, according to Edilberto Riverón, the representative of the ministry of tourism (MINTUR) in Russia.

The official told the Prensa Latina news agency that this outreach strategy has been focused on the west, especially Moscow and St Petersburg, but will now also extend to the northern and eastern areas, where some of the most populous and most economically developed cities are concentrated, such as Nizhni Novgorod, Kazan and Samara.

This announcement was made in the context of the Cuban Night at the International Fair Obdij 2014, an event that brings to the biggest Moscow hotels over 1,000 exhibitors from around the world to negotiate accommodations during the winter season, when the Russian travelers tend to plan their holidays abroad.

Odij granted an opportunity to the MINTUR promotional campaign, in which companies such as Barceló, Sol Meliá, Memory DIMMs and Havanatur participated and which in 2015 is expected to reach even more remote areas such as Oms, the Urals, Yekaterinburg, Ufa and Volgograd.

Culinary, mixology and musical and dance traditions of the Caribbean nation are some of strengths in this marketing strategy, supported by advertising spots.

Russia is currently the tenth largest source of tourists to the island, but since the Authentic Cuba began in 2011 the number of travelers has increased, and in July 2014 had grown by 25% over the same quarter of 2013, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics and Information.