The Prime Minister said it is time to innovate if we want to be competitive in the sector.

What else can we do that will allow us to recover tourism in the midst of the war economy scenario that the nation is experiencing? How can we break the vicious circle that, due to a lack of financing, there are problems in the quality of services? How can we truly strengthen the locomotive of the Cuban economy?

These were some of the questions that guided a meeting between Politburo member and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz and tourism workers, in the run-up to Tourism Day, to be celebrated on 4 March. The exchange, this Sunday, took place in the capital’s La Ferminia restaurant, with significant economic, social and trade union contributions.

The Head of Government insisted on the urgency of seeking solutions based on science and innovation, if we want to be competitive. He called for perfecting methods and generating more income, as well as redesigning products, strengthening business activity, consolidating production chains and promoting self-management.

He reflected on the value of «transforming and doing different things with the resources we have». He also spoke of other key concepts, such as the role of marketing and travel agencies, taking care of the culture of detail, meeting customer demands, training human resources and improving the working environment.

Yusley Sánchez Enríquez, director of the Hotel Memories Jibacoa, in Mayabeque, said that there are two variables that are essential to make a difference: staff and customer service. «We have left studies on the work climate out of hand, it is important to take them up again and strengthen them.

«Workers must be trained, conditions must be created so that they can feel at ease in what they do,» he added, while calling for each institution to have a customer service department that is «very robust, that is close to the user’s opinion».

Marrero Cruz reasoned that human resources make the difference in the sector, and called for «working every day to identify how internal communication is in the facility: from boss to worker, and vice versa, a big problem that we have to solve».

Social responsibility was also discussed at the meeting. Several of the participants alluded to the attention to communities in transformation, as well as to the generation of employment opportunities and opportunities for self-improvement, especially for young people. This is what Claudia Victoria Moraguez and Daylin Valero, two of the workers at La Ferminia, part of the Palmares chain, said.

«I am very grateful for this opportunity, because before I was disconnected from study and work. Here I have found a path of personal fulfilment, I have continued to improve myself, and I have even supported other communities in transformation, after the cyclones and the collapse of the National Electricity System,» said 22-year-old Claudia Victoria, who lives in the Las Canteras neighbourhood in the Havana municipality of Playa.

Daylin, a 32-year-old mother of three, said that after participating in the course offered by the Ministry of Tourism, she obtained a position as a shop assistant. «Now I’ve already qualified to work as a cashier, language teacher, baker, because I don’t want to stay there, I want to continue to improve myself. I am very grateful for the opportunity I have been given».

In the exchange, the participants reiterated that tourism is one of the sectors most affected by the intensification of the US blockade; however, its workers «do not lack the bomb and heart to carry on», and «are committed to the national economy and to defending the work of the Revolution».

TRANSFORMING TOURISM MANAGEMENT

This Sunday’s meeting is a continuation of the process indicated by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, to debate with workers on how to transform tourism management in order to recover the standards and competitiveness of Cuba as a destination.

Therefore, Marrero Cruz described it as a «necessary space for learning», and called for generalising the good experiences shared at the conference, because «how is it possible that, in the same conditions of the US blockade and limited resources, there are facilities that make a difference, while others are waiting for resources to fall from above».

He said it is key to start by solving the subjective problems, and in all of this the role of the cadres, at all levels, is paramount. He reiterated that they have a responsibility to work to overcome obstacles and, with a transformational mindset, find solutions to the current problems.

What is decisive is «the ability of the leader to communicate with his or her collective, to unite it and to put all the collective intelligence into transforming», and he added that these are times of reasoning, of listening, of explaining….

Faced with the current difficulties, he said, we cannot limit ourselves to just resisting, but we have to develop in order to truly turn tourism into the locomotive of the national economy. We live in a war economy, in an extremely complex situation, and there is an urgent need for tourism to get back on its feet, to generate the foreign currency that the country needs, and thus contribute to greater benefits for workers and for our society, he added.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

After the meeting, several outstanding workers and labour collectives were recognised.

National Vanguard status was awarded by the Prime Minister to five entities from different chains, which «achieved high results in the services provided, and progress in trade union work».

The important award – given by the National Secretariat of the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC) – was received by the highest authorities of the hotels Meliá Habana, Gran Muthu Almirante (Holguín), and Club Tropical (Matanzas), as well as the Restaurant Bar Floridita and the Empresa Campismo Popular Granma.

Nine workers with more than 20 years of work in the sector were honoured with the Elpidio Sosa distinction, and another group of colleagues were awarded the 85th Anniversary Seal of the founding of the ctc. Special recognition was also given to Jorge Luis Acosta Paula, general director of the Empresa Extrahotelera Palmares s.a., and to Luis Miguel Díaz Sánchez, director of the Hotel Nacional.

On behalf of the winners, Díaz Sánchez reaffirmed the commitment to work so that the Greater Antilles consolidates itself as a tourist destination of peace, health and security. «We will continue to contribute to the development of the country, we will never give up our commitments».

Ulises Guilarte de Nacimiento, member of the Political Bureau and secretary general of the ctc; Yudí Mercedes Rodríguez Hernández, member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Party and head of the Department of Attention to Services; Juan Carlos García Granda, Minister of Tourism; and Tamara Valido Benítez, president of the Commission of Attention to Services of the National Assembly of People’s Power, among other guests, accompanied the event.