Havana Cuba. – Last February 28, the website of the magazine National Geographic (NG) in Spanish joined to the international publications that have agreed to promote Cuba as a tourist destination, at a time when tourism indicators on the island are not encouraging, rather worrying because the product is no longer attractive. And the reasons for this crisis have become very clear in the comments of the Mexican public —to whom the promotion of this particular edition of NG is directed—, for whom there are too many inconveniences and obstacles involved in choosing Cuba as a place of vacation.
Precisely the NG article, replicated just a few days ago on its official Facebook page, focuses on the “other requirements” that, in addition to the tourist card, Mexican citizens must present before and following flying to Havana, and Although it is evident that the intention of the authors has been to convince the reader of how “easy” it is to “take a jump” to the largest of the Antilles, the truth is, as some have expressed, that too many health requirements and warnings are the only What they manage is to scare away tourists and divert them to other Caribbean destinations, especially when opinions regarding the true Cuban reality —which is not at all the fantasy product promoted by travel agencies— agree that today Cuba has very little good to offer in addition to sun and beach.
The “simplicity” claimed by NG contrasts with the harsh recommendations made by some, far from being a joke, such as the difficulties of connecting to the Internet, the lousy gastronomy, the high prices compared to the poor quality of the services, the lousy conditions of life of the population and even the need to carry enough toilet paper while in the current circumstances it is difficult, almost impossible, to find it in stores and hotels where it is one of many regulated items along with other personal hygiene products.
“There is not even hot water. You complain, they tell you that they will fix it and they never do it”, replied a person in the forum, regarding the very few favorable opinions that the NG publication has aroused, which some have also recommended – in the case of the prestigious magazine that has been for decades—, using real photographs that show Mexicans what Cuba is for Cubans, unlike the hackneyed, retouched and misleading image that they have used to illustrate a text that seems to be a “cut and paste” from any other drafted by the Cuban Ministry of Tourism.
Apparently, as has been happening in recent months, the regime has gone out, probably with royalties and promises in hand, to knock on the doors of the newsrooms where friends and acquaintances work so that, just as they did in 2016 during the “boom” , now during the early decline they throw a cape with the “promo”.
If as soon as this January was the The New York Times who took the risk —following seven years— of once once more recommending Cuba as a “fashionable destination”, completely ignoring that people flee from here because everything is so bad (and that the only thing in fashion is the word “sponsor”, so as yesterday were “coyote” and “volcanoes”), now, as it also did in 2016, it has been NG’s turn to put its face back trying to sell ice to the Eskimos.
The regime is moving “influence” desperately. The red-hot numbers of 2023 are looking too similar to those of 2022 when, in terms of number of visitors, Cuban tourism was the furthest behind in the entire Caribbean, having barely exceeded 37% of what was achieved before the closure due to the pandemic, and 60% of what was planned for 2023, while the net income of the sector was at its worst moment, with only 36.2% of what was captured in 2019. Little, very little, but perhaps enough to pay fees to whoever corresponds .
OPINION ARTICLE
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