The tourism industry in Cuba is growing at a faster rate than anywhere else in the world. Over the past two years the number of visitors has quadrupled and hotel groups are expanding at a similar rate to keep pace with demand.
The Gran Caribe hotel group was established in 1994, coinciding with the end of the Cold War era and the urgent need to replace the vanishing Soviet aid with hardcurrency.
Public relations manager Miguel Nunez explained how the group had expanded in that time: “In 1994 we had 3,000 rooms. Today we have 9,000 rooms in 42 hotels catering for different markets.”
The group’s five-star flagship is the Hotel Nacional which sits fortress-like on a mound overlooking the sea in Havana. With 404 rooms and the usual range of boutiques, bars and meeting facilities, it carries the slightly faded glory which characterises so much of the country.
Elsewhere in the capital, Gran Caribe’s four-star Hotel Inglaterra sits adjacent to the theatre, overlooking Havana’s Central Park. This is where Anna Pavlova and Enrico Caruso stayed when Havana was the playground of the world’s rich and famous. Situated on the fringe of the old city, the Hotel Inglaterra represents colonial grandeur at its very best.
A stone’s throw away is one of Ernest Hemingway’s favourite restaurants, El Floridita, also managed by Gran Caribe. Its plush red furnishing, exquisitely presented daiquiri cocktails and five-star cuisine make for an unforgettable evening. The group also manages Hemingway’s graffiti-covered drinking haunt La Bodeguita del Medio, as well as the famous Tropicana Cabaret.
Outside of Havana, Gran Caribe is one of the leading players in the beach resort of Varadero – a 2hr drive east of the city. The group’s latest property is the Hotel Arena Blancas Solymar which boasts a range of cottages, hotel rooms, restaurants, bars, pools and its own strip of beach.
With no private shareholders to pay, Gran Caribe keeps 30% of its operating profit for building and refurbishment:the remainder goes to the government. The company makes no secret as to why it is expanding at such a rate: “We are planning for the lifting of the American embargo,” said Nunez. “So far our traditional partners have been from Germany, Canada, Spain and France. But I don’t think it will be long before we are welcoming American investors as well as American visitors.”
Gran Caribe’s future plans involve developing Cayo Coco and the other offshore cays which make up the province of Ciego de Avila. “This is the resort destination of the future. There will be an international airport there within two years,” said Nunez.