During his speech at the 17th International Seminar on Journalism and Tourism (June 17 to 21), Perelló updated those present on the most relevant trends for the region.
He said the Greater Caribbean, to which Cuba belongs, covers 32 tourist destinations, corresponding to the insular part, with 36.9 million inhabitants, 2,754 square kilometers of total area and 239,681 kilometers of land.
He mentioned that it is a territory of very high diversity, with ecological, socio-historical and cultural values. He referred in particular to the real estate sector and its assets, when he recalled that in 2009 a global real estate crisis appeared in the world that spread from the United Kingdom to the United States.
He commented that during the Covid-19 pandemic the mistake was made of closing services, which is still being paid for, when the problem should have been faced and tourism development continued, this at a global level.
Currently and during the first half of 2024, the prominent destinations in terms of tourism are the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos and the Dominican Republic in terms of business trips, and in terms of family destinations, Belize, Curacao and Aruba.
The sale of islands for cruise stops, the cruise industry itself, and luxury accommodation and proposals currently emerge as the highlight elements in the global tourism recovery, he stated.
Furthermore, the Caribbean depends on air travel, also affected by the pandemic, and currently airlines that report less than 72 percent occupancy are canceling trips. Of all trips, 20 percent of seats are reported in the Caribbean inter-connectivity.
Broadcasting to the Caribbean is led, as in other times, by the United States and Canada, currently with 12 percent for the former and 14 percent for the latter. In the first half of this year, Canada reported 37.78 million trips outside its borders.
He reiterated as a trend that currently 65 percent of tourism expansion targets the Luxury and Premium segment in the area. In terms of main destinations in the Caribbean, with 584 four and five-star hotels in total, appear the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Cuba.