Five million foreign holidaymakers are expected to visit the Cuban archipelago, a tourist destination par excellence in the Caribbean region, in 2018.

In order to guarantee the sustained development of the tourism industry, Cuba offers 67,000 hotel rooms and there are plans to build more in a long term to reach 100,000 rooms by 2030, when 224 hotels and 32 enlargement projects are scheduled for completion, in addition to 24 golf courses with 11 associated hotels, 23 marinas and nautical bases, and 47 recreational and adventure centers.

As an additional element and in order to support that strategy, the tourism sector reports 87 administration contracts, and 19 foreign hotel chains and 27 joint ventures operate in that industry.

In the future, investments will be aimed at achieving sustainable tourism by prohibiting construction projects by the beach, thus preventing adverse environmental impacts on the dunes.

In addition, authorities are working to restore buildings of high cultural and architectural values to turn them into inns, as well as boosting projects to make an efficient use of wastes and to save energy.

Statistics show that in 2017, Canada continued to be Cuba's major tourist-sending market, followed by France, Italy, Russia, Spain, Argentina and Brazil.

Cruise tourism has become a fast-growing sector in Cuba, where travelers can learn about the reality of the country, its people, culture and natural and architectural beauties.

In 2017, cruise visits rose by 230 percent and that trend is expected to continue in 2018, in addition to an increase in international flights during the peak tourist season.

In that context, in order to make the sector more dynamic and attractive, new options in the modalities of circuits, events, adventures, nature and rural tourism have been created, as well as new associated services, facilities, marinas and air operations.

The new investment opportunities in Cuba include the possibility that foreign companies fund the restoration of buildings with tourist ends, as a variant in the hotel administration modality.

Under that kind of business option, foreign firms that operate or are interested in administrating tourist facilities in the country will be able to negotiate more contracts with Cuban proprietors in order to recover their investments sooner.

The options for recreation and leisure in Cuba are based on the country's natural, historic and cultural wealth.