by Donald Wood
Last updated: 12:00 PM ET, Wed May 8, 2019
Festivities kicked off Tuesday at the FITCuba 2019 events, marking the beginning of the 39th edition of the International Tourism Fair at the Havana Convention Center.
According to Caribbean News Digital, the opening ceremony for the FITCuba 2019 fair took place at the San Carlos de la Cabana Fortress and featured the Cuban Minister of Tourism Manuel Marrero Cruz, as well as hundreds of delegates from different countries.
During the opening ceremony, provincial government president Reynaldo Zapata said, "Havana is a universe full of cultural beauties and very safe as a travel destination, a city keen on serving tourism."
The tourism fair runs through May 11 and featured Spain as a guest country of honor, with Spanish Minister of Tourism Maria Reyes Maroto in attendance. The events come at a time when Havana celebrates the 500th anniversary of its founding.
"Tourism is one of the development levers of 21st Century. For Cuba and Spain, it is the first source of economic income," Minister Maroto said. "It grows above the global economy as a whole and it has a quite positive outlook for future growth. Both Spain and Cuba have to take advantage of this perspective to put it according to their development."
Minister Maroto offered Cuban tourism officials recommendations based on the Spanish experience, including accelerating digital integration in the sector, making changes in governance, preserving culture and sustainability, and adapting to constant changes faced by the industry.
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