Yucatan and Cuba ally with Europeans and Asians to attract tourism

The Secretary of Tourism Promotion in Yucatan is seeking to join with tourism officials in Cuba to create and promote packages that include both destinations.

Miriam Fillad, representative of the Tourism Ministry of Cuba in Mexico, said that this strategy is designed for European and Asian tourists traveling to the Caribbean island. “We have seen that travelers, once in Cuba, hire travel packages to other Caribbean destinations or even the Yucatan Peninsula,” said Fillad at Mexico’s Tourism Tianguis in Guadalajara.

The Secretary of Tourism Promotion of Yucatan is working with the agency “Havanatur”, which has 18 branches in Europe, Asia and America to include Yucatan in packages being offered to European and Asian tourists. “The idea is that the agency sells the Cuba-Yucatan combined package,” Fillad said.

The agency will also promote packages from Mexico, to create the option to make the closures of events in Cuba to tourists attending conventions or conferences in the state.

Saul Ancona, Secretary of Tourism Promotion of Yucatan, said this is feasible because there are regular flights between Merida and Havana, for example on Interjet. “In May, Aeromar will open the Mayan route, which includes connecting Merida to Havana, which will increase connectivity between the two destinations,” he added.

Fillad stressed that tourism in Cuba and Yucatan works complementarily, because while the Caribbean island has several beach destinations, Yucatan has its architectural heritage, museums and a wide gastronomic offerings.

Tourism to Yucatán grew 18% in 2015, compared to the previous year, mainly due to the opening of new air routes that facilitated the arrival of more international tourists. Ancona said that with this new strategy allying Yucatan tourism with Cuba, the flow of visitors can climb between 5% and an additional 10% by 2017.

Source: expansion.mx