HAVANA — Cuba’s Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos Garcia Granda, is vowing to turn around supply chain issues that led to shortages and other challenges at Cuba’s resorts last year.
In a candid speech via translator to Canadian tour operators and media assembled for FITCuba, taking place this week in Havana, Minister Garcia Granda said: “As you know, we are doing our best effort in order to be able to erase all the mistakes we made in 2024.”
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- Cuba’s Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos Garcia Granda, addressing Canadian tour operators and media at Havana’s Hotel Paseo del Prado
He continued: “We are still in a complicated situation and facing challenges. However as of October 2024 we have been able to come up with alternatives allowing us to use our finances in other ways in order to allow us to fulfill our engagements.”
Minister Garcia Granda said Cuba is seeing good forward bookings already for winter 2025-2026, “because we have been able to solve a lot of the problems, not all, but the elementary ones, for example breakfast items and [the availability of] eggs.
“We assure our partners that we know these standards of quality are not functional and cannot be sustained, and we have been able to make some changes in the logistics / supply chains. Cuba is a unique country, and we know that in order to work with you we need to be unique businessmen and businesswomen,” he said to applause.
Following Minister Garcia Granda’s speech at Hotel Paseo del Prado, the Canadian contingent joined delegations from other countries for FITCuba’s gala event. Excursions on May 1 and 2 included a city tour of Old Havana. On May 3, the last day of the trip, the Canadian delegation is heading to Viñales. The Canadian group’s hotel for FITCuba is Meliá Habana.
In his speech Minister Garcia Granda also acknowledged “our best clients, the Canadian people. I always say Canadians have more friends in Cuba than in Canada.”
He added: “Canadians do not get confused by reports about Cuba in the media. Canadians know the real situation in Cuba, and they know the real situation with our facilities, but they also know the quality of our services.
“To help our numbers grow, and to make you have more faith in us, next year’s edition of FITCuba will be dedicated to Canada and the Canadian people.
“It is true that we need to diversify our markets. But we also cannot leave Canada behind, it’s so important to us, it’s our biggest market.”
