Some of the greatest challenges identified nowadays for the development and sustainability of one of the most important economic spheres for Cuba, international tourism, deal with competitiveness, risks, investments, the development of human capital, quality and business autonomy.

1- Is the Cuban tourist product losing competitiveness?

Some facts with a certain amount of reliability confirm this is the case. Cuba is not a young but rather a mature destination. Experience comes with maturity, but also fatigue, which is normal. Every year the FutureBrand consultancy company applies a survey of 3,500 travellers from 14 large markets and 12 Focus Groups of different world cities to assess their country image. In the report of the 2010-2012 three year period Cuba appears in 14th place of the 20 first Latin American destinations. In 2010 it ranked 50th and in 2012 it went down to 57th. The survey distributes a group of attributes in five measurements: tourism, heritage, culture, business climate, quality of life and system of values. The results are surprising and, in some aspects, not very reliable. For example, in terms of safety, Cuba appears after Chile, Uruguay and Costa Rica. It only ranks first in the health and education system (of course).

With a 1.2 billion euro credit, the Russian government is financing the construction of four power generation units in the largest of the Caribbean islands.

Russia granted Cuba a credit for the construction of several power generation plants, giving continuity to the cooperation agreements signed a year before by both governments and the tradition of helping in the energy sphere developed between Havana and Moscow during the times of the Soviet Union.

The U.S. secretary of commerce analysed the reach of the measures taken by her government to relax the blockade on Cuba and studied the opportunities offered by this Caribbean nation to her country’s companies.

The visit to Cuba by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker lasted barely two days but they were sufficient to give signs that her government is seriously maneuvering to approach the Cuban economy. According to her statements to the press, she made the trip to explore the ground in order to open the road for her country’s companies.

Restricted only to the opportunity of charter flights, U.S. airlines are waiting expectantly for the talks between the governments of their country and Cuba to start programming regular commercial flights.

U.S. airlines are hoping to lay a regular air bridge to Cuba before the end of the year. The programmed reestablishment of commercial flights between both countries depends on government negotiations that closed a second chapter on the last week of September in Havana.