cuba cruise terminal expansion

ccording to a report from the New York-based U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council Inc., Cuba plans to open its second cruise ship terminal in Havana later this year in anticipation of an expected increase in ship calls.

A May 2 report on the expansion plans by Bloomberg reporter Jay Amberg cited Alvaro Perez Morales, Cuba’s minister of transportation, as stating that the existing terminal along the waterfront of Havana Vieja (Old Havana) will be expanded to accommodate five ships rather than four, while the location for the new terminal was being evaluated.

According to the council, reported Bloomberg, the government-operated Cubanco SA, a joint venture between the Cuban Ministry of Transportation and Silares Terminals del Caribe NV, currently operates cruise ship terminals at the port of Havana, the port of Santigao de Cuba and on the island of Isla de la Juventud. The company is constructing a fourth passenger-ship terminal at the Cuban port of Cienfuegos, about a two-hour drive southeast of Havana, reported Bloomberg.

Morales was quoted as stating that 11 cruise ships currently call in Cuba, while others occasionally dock at the island’s ports. The Cuban government said it expects 100,000 cruise ship passengers to visit the island this year, compared with 76,464 in 2000, reported Bloomberg. Of these, the government estimates 66,000 passengers disembarked at the port of Havana. Cuba estimates a gross profit of about $15 million this year from cruise ship business (based on the 100,000 passenger figure) compared to $11.46 million a year ago. Cuba said 1.7 million tourists visited the island last year, below government projections of 2 million visitors, according to Bloomberg.

Tourism is Cuba’s biggest source of hard currency followed by minerals, sugar and tobacco. The U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council is a private not-for-profit organization in the U.S. that focuses on economic activity in the Republic of Cuba.