Cuba and Russia analyse prospects of tourism cooperation

The president of the Russian Federal Agency of Tourism, Anatoli Grechkin, met  with Carmen Casal, Foreign Relations Director at the Cuban Tourism Ministry. to discuss prospects of bilateral cooperation in this sector. During the tourism fair Inturmarket International Exhibition that concludes Tuesday in the Moscow Crocus Expo, Stefania Escobar Díaz, director of MINTUR’s office in the European country, also participated in a meeting with Russian tourism authorities to discuss cooperation possibilities. MINTUR is participating in Inturmarket-2010 along with national tour operators such as Havanatur, Sol y Son, Cubatur, Gaviota and Gaviota Tours, Prensa Latina news agency reports. In a stand of 81 square meters, Cuba is working with Russian tour-operators like Neva, Weekend, Southern Cross, ICS, Capital tour, SIT Travel, Vand International and TEZ tours, among others. Escobar Díaz announced that Cuba will give in September a seminar to a network of tour operators in several Russian cities such as Saint Petersburg, Kazan, Nishni, Novgorod and Samara. A total of 8,721 Russian tourists had visited Cuba by the end of last February, for a 12% increase compared to 2009, when 37,391 Russians traveled to the Caribbean nation.