14ymedio, Madrid, December 5, 2023 — A month has passed since Prime Minister Manuel Marrero visited China on a trip to Belarus and Russia, and his exclusive interview conducted by the CGTN television channel, owned by the Government of Beijing for international broadcast. The prime minister reveals some details about how he plans to attract more Chinese tourism, with some ideas as simple as the inclusion of electric kettles to boil water in hotel rooms, so that guests of the Asian giant can drink hot water, in accordance with their custom.
The measure is brought up by the interviewer who spoke with Marrero, — previously Cuba’s Minister of Tourism before his appointment as Prime Minister. The interview, conducted for the Leaders Talk program, delved into whether the Cuban Government plans to adapt to such tastes. Marrero affirms that, within the plan to attract the Chinese market, the language is a priority, and promises that there are plans to include it in the island’s signage. In addition, he admits with a laugh, even if Cubans only plan to drink fresh water, thermoses will be able to help make other temperatures available to Chinese travelers.
Among the developments specified by the Cuban prime minister, the arrival of a Chinese cruise ship based in the port of Havana is projected for next year
Among the developments detailed by the Marrero the arrival of a Chinese cruise ship based in the port of Havana is projected for next year, and it is planned that the ship will make tours throughout the Caribbean. In addition, he mentioned the construction of a hotel “with Chinese characteristics” also in the capital, which will be “symbolically seen as the foundations of a great commercial bridge linking both nations.”
The idea is not new, quite the opposite. The official press already announced an establishment that was to be built with mixed Chinese and Cuban capital in 2010 in the Hemingway Marina, that was then valued at 117 million dollars. In 2019, the press took up the matter, stating that the Asian giant was investing around 700 million dollars in “new high-level hotels,” including a golf complex valued at 500 million dollars.
Ultimately, nothing has been finalized and it remains to be seen if it will happen now, when Cuba is going through one of the moments of greatest depression in i