Photo: RRSS
Text: Editorial Cuba Noticias 360
This week, the First Trinidad Business Forum, Ciudad de Encuentros, took place in the third town of Cuba, an event that, according to its organizers, seeks to promote the portfolio of investment opportunities in the tourism sector of the central region of the country.
The event, which took place on October 7 and 8 at the Trinidad Peninsula Hotel, brought together nearly 150 delegates, including businessmen from Germany, Italy and Spain, as well as representatives of the hotel and non-hotel sector of the island. The forum will have a second session on October 10 in Sancti Spíritus.
The event was presented as a platform to “invigorate the tourism sector in the central region”, facilitate the identification of new businesses with the active participation of the non-state sector, favor the integration of Cubans residing abroad in local development projects, as well as promote the portfolio of foreign investment opportunities in Trinidad and Sancti Spíritus.
The main novelty presented at the forum was the proposal to declare the Historic Center of Trinidad and the Valley of the Ingenios – both Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 1988 – as an area for preferential tourist use.
According to experts, this measure would reserve free areas within the tourist-recreational use space exclusively for these purposes, which in practice implies prioritizing tourist activity over other land uses in the heart of the city.
Along with that statement, a proposal was announced to franchise the La Canchánchara tavern abroad, an emblematic establishment in Trinidad, as part of a broader strategy to promote the international expansion of Cuban brands.
The organizers insisted that the forum is committed to “strategic alliances” and to present the investment portfolio “in light of the economic and social transformations that the country is implementing.”
However, the event was held in a context of uncertainty for the Cuban tourism sector, marked by the drop in visitors, infrastructure problems and the recent departure of the Meliá chain from the management of the hotel that served as headquarters for the forum, now managed by the mixed company TosCuba SA.
Although the authorities present the forum as an “open door” to investment, it remains to be seen whether the concrete proposals translate into real capital flows or a tangible improvement for the local economy.
Source: www.cubanoticias360.com
