HAVANA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, along with tourism authorities have inaugurated the island's second luxury five-star hotel as the Caribbean nation is looking to attract more high-standard visitors to its resorts, local media reported on Sunday.
According to a report by daily Juventud Rebelde, Diaz-Canel participated in the official opening ceremony of the Iberostar Grand Packard Hotel in Havana Saturday night as the hotel has already been receiving tourists for about four weeks.
Located in Havana's Old Town and with a stunning view of the city's bay, the resort is the second one in Cuba with five-star plus category and is operated by Spanish company Iberostar who has been in the island for 25 years.
Cuban Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero said the hotel is part of a new strategy in the sector to attract more high-standard visitors which look for exclusive products and destinations.
"Iberostar has been present in the country since 1993 and currently operates 27 hotels with 7,881 rooms, adding the Grand Packard as its best exponent in Cuba," he said.
Marrero emphasized the arrival of international visitors to the island is experiencing an important recovery after a sharp 6.5 percent drop in the first half of the year.
"We have been able to recover despite the intensification of the U.S. blockade particularly with travel restrictions as Cuba continues to be the only country in the world where a U.S. citizen is prohibited by law to visit as a tourist," he added.
Meanwhile, Miguel Fluxa, chairman of Iberostar Group, said that after 25 years in constant contact with the country this hotel is the pinnacle product the company has in the Caribbean region.
"I move around the world and this hotel has a high-standard as any five-star resort in London, New York or Paris. It doesn't get better than this," he said.
Located on the emblematic Paseo del Prado, and next to iconic buildings such as the Velasco Palace and the National Capitol Building (El Capitolio), the hotel has 321 rooms and suites with concierge services for its guests.
It also has three fine dining restaurants, one snack bar next to the swimming pool with astonishing view to Havana's bay and three bars.
Despite a sharp 6.5 percent contraction in the arrival of foreign tourists in the first half of this year, Cuba plans to set a new record and finish 2018 with the arrival of about 4.8 million visitors according to the tourism ministry.
The tourism sector is the second source of foreign currency income for Cuba after professional services abroad and is considered as one of the main driving forces of its economic development by the government.
Cuba's first five-star hotel, the "Gran Hotel Manzana," part of the Swiss group Kempinski Hotels opened in May, 2017 in Havana.
