Cuba welcomed its 2 millionth tourist this year on Friday with a salsa band, strong mojitos and word that the country expects to set a record this year for foreign visitors despite three hurricanes and a global economic crisis.
Authorities hung a red-and-white banner reading “welcome visitor” in five languages just outside the customs area as Air Canada Flight 370 from Toronto touched down at Havana Airport.
Cuba didn’t single out a visitor No. 2 million, rather symbolically marked the flight’s arrival along with similar celebrations at international airports in the eastern city of Santiago and in Varadero, the famous beach resort northeast of Havana.
Alexis Trujillo, first vice minister of tourism, said Cuba had surpassed 2 million annual foreign visitors every year since 2004.
But Friday was the earliest the country had ever reached the mark, he said, leading Cuba to predict it would pass its 2005 record of 2.3 million visitors.
Trujillo said tourism is up 10.7 percent compared with last year, despite hurricanes Gustav, Ike and Paloma, which destroyed nearly half a million homes and did more than US$10 billion in damage when they roared through the island in recent weeks.
Washington’s trade embargo prohibits most Americans from coming to Cuba.
But Canada, Britain, Spain and Italy rank as the island’s top sources of visitors.
Foreign tourists to Cuba topped 2.3 million in 2005 but fell in 2006 and slipped again to 2.1 million last year — dealing a financial blow to a nation that relies on tourism for much of its hard-currency revenue. The industry brought in US$2.2 billion last year.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
MOGAMI-CLASS FRIGATES: The deal is a ‘big step toward elevating national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,’ a Japanese official said Australia is to upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defense export deal since World War II, Australia is to pay US$6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
MILITARY’S MAN: Myint Swe was diagnosed with neurological disorders and peripheral neuropathy disease, and had authorized another to perform his duties Myint Swe, who became Myanmar’s acting president under controversial circumstances after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi more than four years ago, died yesterday, the military said. He was 74. He died at a military hospital in the capital, Naypyidaw, in the morning, Myanmar’s military information office said in a statement. Myint Swe’s death came more than a year after he stopped carrying out his presidential duties after he was publicly reported to be ailing. His funeral is to be held at the state level, but the date had not been disclosed, a separate statement from the
RSS