Russian tourism to Cuba grew by about 30 percent in 2019, when there were almost 178,000 visitors from that Eurasian country, a figure listed as a record for that market that has become one of the emerging issuers to the Caribbean island.

The Russian visitors go to almost all of the country’s tourist destinations, from the provinces of Holguín and Camagüey in the eastern part or Cayo Coco and Cayo Santa Maria in the central region to the world-famous Varadero beach resort in the province of Matanzas, and the Cuban capital –Havana. Havana and Varadero are the most visited in the country.

According to the growth forecasts of the Cuban Ministry of Tourism, the number of Russian travelers to Cuba could increase this year to 200,000. In fact, Russia has been chosen as the guest of honor this year at Cuba’s International Tourism Fair FitCuba --the sector’s most important event on the Island.

The Cuban tour operator Havanatur and the Russian agencies Anex Tur, Natalitur and Daikiry have played an important role in the strategy to attract customers. Added to this are the flights of Russian airlines, which today operate routes to several Cuban provinces.

For the sector’s experts the sustained increase of Russian travelers to Cuba means the possibility that in the future Russia could be placed among the main markets of tourists to Cuba: Canada, France, United Kingdom and Spain.