Cuba attracts special tourists: millionaires, princes and personalities – 03/10/2019

A camera worth over $ 25,000 is displayed in a showcase in Havana. That's 850 times more than the average salary in Cuba, an island that welcomes luxury tourism with open arms.

"Choose: Do you buy a camera or an apartment?" Mocked the Cuban musician Ariel Díaz when he had published an image of the object in question on Facebook with the price tag, which provoked angry reactions on social networks.

The store is located in a shopping center at the foot of the first five-star hotel in the capital, the big apple from the Swiss group Kempinski, which opened in June 2017 in a sumptuous historic building that was, at the beginning of the 20th century, the city's first commercial center.

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Versace, Lacoste, Armani, Montblanc: the gallery's brands seem to disagree with a country ruled by a communist government since 1959 and where Cubans earn an average of only $ 30 a month.

The Big Apple "is the first truly luxurious hotel in Havana," says Xavier Destribats, General Manager.

"This is the first hotel where there is a 1000 square meter spa, all rooms have a minimum of 40 square meters. "Rates range from $ 370 for a single room in low season up to $ 5,000 for the presidential suite.

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"There was a clientele who did not go to Havana or Cuba because It did not have the quality of a five-star luxury hotel, like in cities like Paris or London, "adds Destribats, at the hotel's swimming pool.

The large terrace of "Manzana" offers a 360-degree view of the colorful and historic old town, where Many Cubans live in ruined buildings, in ruins and overgrown.

"I do not feel in Cuba, but rather in the United States, Miami or Puerto Rico," said Celia Liegeois, 26, from Paris.

After spending three weeks on the island, she and a friend are enjoying their last days in the Kempinski pool, dressed in a swimsuit and a pareo in the colors of the Cuban flag.

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Not far from there, Suki Lu, a 28-year-old Chinese TV presenter, has just arrived in Havana and is already amazed: "It's beautiful, look at the sunset! C & # 39; is really addictive, "she says.

"I live in Dubai, so when we talk about luxury hotels, the level is very high, but I think I'll appreciate this hotel," she explains, while her friend takes an aerial view of the terrace with a drone.

The hotel attracts "a clientele of private planes, princes, personalities", says Xavier Destribats. US tourists are the most numerous (20% of the total), the others come from Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Kempinski, which plans to launch "two or three" other hotels in Cuba, is not the only one interested in the island: the Spanish Iberostar opened its doors last September. a five-star Grand Packard.

Meanwhile, the French giant Accor plans to open its own in September, in an exceptional place: the emblematic MalecónThis Sofitel hotel offers a chocolate factory on the ground floor, a restaurant and a rooftop concert area.

Employee uniforms will be realized by the Spanish designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada. Finally, the French group Lucien Barrière seeks to settle in front of the Capitol, according to a sectoral source.

In any case, the owner of the hotel is obligatorily Gaviota, branch of the Cuban army dedicated to tourism.

Foreigners are only responsible for the management of these establishments built by the French group Bouygues, well established locally.

Authorities they do not publish figures on revenues returned to the army, Although this alliance with the armed forces has brought Washington to place these luxury hotels on the "blacklist" that prohibits American tourists to stay there because of the embargo policy.

The restriction discourages many American tourists, but it does not prevent others from avoiding it, pay in cash or book through a travel agency.

To complete the offer, "it is planned to build golf courses badociated with real estate," said José Luis Perello, doctor of economics and industry specialist.

According to this expert, openness to luxury represents a big turning point for the island"Cuba, since its beginnings more than 20 years ago with international tourism, has focused all its plans and strategies on solar and seaside tourism".

Currently, "73% of Cuba's 70,000 rooms" belong to this segment.

But these tourists spend little, as well as cruise lines, whose number has increased in recent years. According to an industry source, They spend on average $ 15 a day and do not stay in a hotel.

But the island, which received 4.7 million tourists in 2018, is looking for foreign currency, while suffering the consequences of the US embargo, in force since 1962, and the crisis in Venezuela, its ally and oil supplier.

GDP growth stagnates at around 1%, which is insufficient to meet the needs of the population and face food shortages.

The opening of luxury hotels is "a new step", recently stressed the Minister of Tourism, Manuel Marrero Cruz, and is also "a necessity".

AFP Agency.

GML