In Diario Libre today, Monday 22 December 2014, Tourism analyst Juan Llado writes about the challenges and the opportunities that Cuba represents for the Dominican tourism industry. Cuba received 2.8 million tourists in 2013 compared to the DR’s 4.7 million. Due to the restrictions on US citizen travel, an estimated 170,000 US citizens visited Cuba, compared to 1,342,00 (40% of the total) who visited the DR.
Llado says that recent statistics show Cuba has around 200 hotels and 38,000 hotel rooms, compared to 540 hotels with 68,000 hotel rooms. Cuba had revenue of US$1.8 billion for the industry, while the DR reports revenue of US$5 billion.
He speculates the opening could bring a shift in foreign investment from the DR to Cuba. Llado points out that up to now foreign companies only have management companies in Cuba, where the state is the owner of most of the hotels. The state company, Gaviota is building 18,000 hotel rooms for 2018. He calls Cuba a formidable player for the Caribbean tourism industry, but not one that should cause panic.
http://www.diariolibre.com/ecos/2014/12/22/i937291_cuba-nuevo-desafo-turstico.html