Tourist in Cuba. Image: Pixabay Cuba had received 489,000 foreign tourists in the first two months of the year an official press report indicated. Cuban digital magazine Cubadebate reported that the recovery of Canadian tourism, Cuba’s major tourist-sending market, reached 80 percent with respect to 2019, totaling 252,650 travelers. The article added that 67.2 percent of the accumulated total of international tourist arrivals is represented by three markets: Canada, Cubans living abroad (51,187) and the United States (24,451). Arrivals from the traditional European markets maintain low figures due to the non-recovery of long-distance trips from that continent and the insufficiency of air connections. In that area, the United Kingdom (13,596), Germany (13,585), France (13,103), Italy (11,373), Spain (10,613) and Russia (20,589) top the list of Cuba’s major tourist-sending markets. Arrivals by sea lack significance, the article said, with 12,180 visitors (3,794 crew members), as a result of restrictions from [...]

The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) recently announced the winners of the 2022 Caribbean Sustainable Awards Competition in which Dominica won the category award for ‘Tourism Education and Training’. The winner selected by the tourism development agency is WildDominique, an NGO created to support and promote sound conservation practices in Dominica. The ‘Friend of Conservation’ initiative, launched in 2022, is a joint collaboration between WildDominique, the Forestry, Wildlife & Parks Division, Discover Dominica Authority, and the Dominica State College and was designed to establish biodiversity-friendly livelihoods in the Nature Island. The nationally recognized certification identifies and addresses knowledge gaps within the tourism industry, creates a unique opportunity for skill exchange between tour operators and conservation managers, and rewards tourism stakeholders who play an active role in sustainably promoting the nature island product. The ‘Friend of Conservation’ initiative ensures that tour guides are exposed to updated and accurate information regarding Dominica’s natural resources. [...]