Early 2010 Cuba tourist arrivals fall, prices fall

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Cuba's 2010 tourism season is slow out of the gates, with arrivals for January falling 4.9 percent below the same month last year, according to an as-yet-unofficial report by the Cuban government, seen by Reuters' Havana correspondent.

The report, will be released today, reveals that 254,845 tourists arrived in the first month of this year, compared with 268,115 in January 2009.

With the world economic recession seeming to be in turn-around (if not recovery) mode, and Cuba already having slashed its hotel prices, I would have expected a jump.

It appears, however, that it's now in a bidding war with other Caribbean nations–principally the Dominican Republic and the Mexican Riviera–which have also slashed room rates aimed at the Canadian market. According to Reuters, another reason for the fall-off in tourists is that it got into a tiff with a major Canadian tour operator, which shifted its bookings elsewhere when Cuba didn't respond aggressively enough to competitive pricing.

Cuba is unique in that it sees very few U.S. visitors due to Uncle Sam's travel restrictions, and relies on Canada and Europe, whose continued economic hard times is forcing vacationers to seek bottom dollar.

Meanwhile, foreign hotel managers in Cuba (the Cuban government owns all hotels) report that tourist arrivals have continued to slip this month and, says Reuters, "prospects for March were not encouraging because the response by tourism officials to January's decline was too slow in coming."

Cuba's Ministry of Tourism has responded by cutting rates, but it appears that it's too late to save the 2010 winter season.

In many hotels, prices can't fall much further. This past November and December, I toured the entire isle and discovered that room rates at many provincial hotels had been slashed to as low as $15 single, $20 double. The beach resort hotels, which get the overwhelming majority of Canadian visitors, are still far too pricey, and especially considering that vacationers get far better food quality and service in Dominican and Mexican hotels. That's a pity, as many of the newer hotels that have come on-line in recent years in Cuba are lovely boutique or beach properties.

Still, it seems hotel prices are set to come down further. If ever there were a time to visit Cuba, it's now.

For further information about travel in Cuba, buy Moon Cuba

Copyright © Christopher P. Baker