A 48-square-kilometer-long causeway connects Cuba's largest island with the keys of Villa Clara (made up of Las Brujas, Ensenachos and Santa María keys), part of the group of islands located to the north of this central province, which in the 1990s became a colossal tourist project led by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz.
This portion of the archipelago, which is only 13 km long and an example of environmental conservation, has experienced, over the years, a growing process of development in terms of hotel infrastructure and tourist services, together with its own natural attractiveness.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which drastically reduced tourist activity, did not spare this important destination. Nevertheless, and despite the fact that international visitor arrivals are still low, the recovery strategy in the Villa Clara Keys is not stopping.
Delegate of the Ministry of Tourism in Villa Clara Regla Dayamí Armenteros Mesa said that, in the tourism sector, the central territory has been updating its product after the pandemic, designing options that favor a renewed, fresh destination with new offers for the client.
Although the renovation includes expanding the offers beyond the sun and the beach, these are still the strongest options in the province, mainly because almost the entire hotel facilities of the territory are located in the northern keys, considered the third tourist pole of the country, recognized Armenteros Mesa.
Regarding the recovery of tourism in the Central Province, the delegate acknowledged that the forecasts are still below 100%. However, she believes that "after this Tourism Fair, which has been a success due to the negotiations in the sector, we can begin to recover to meet the plan we have for this year," she stressed.
VILLA CLARA KEYS: A TOURIST POTENTIAL
Commercial Director of the Gaviota Tours Centro Travel Agency, Iroel Ruiz highlighted the natural wealth of the Villa Clara Keys, which have been preserved intact and have been a priority in the environmental strategy of the place.
The nature of these keys is characterized by an immense and almost virgin beach in the north, immense mangrove vegetation in the south, white sand of biogenic origin (formed from living organisms) and a significant flow of marine life throughout the island.
The Keys have some 12,883 rooms, distributed in 22 hotels, as well as six extra-hotel service facilities. Photo: Liz Conde
Regarding the current state of the tourist product, he informed that the Keys have 12,883 rooms, distributed in 22 hotels, as well as six extra-hotel service facilities: Marina Cayo Las Brujas, Dolphinarium, Plaza Las Dunas, Plaza La Estrella, Plaza Las Terrazas and Refugio de Fauna Cayo Santa María.
It also has ten support service facilities, which include travel agencies, Las Brujas service center, International Clinic, Las Brujas Airport, Cayo Santa María Hotel, transportation base, aqueduct and sewage system, Electric Company, Tourist Insurance and laundry services.
Iroel Ruiz explained that in Cayo Las Brujas (first location across the causeway that joins the keys with the municipality of Caibarién, Villa Clara) is the local airport, designed for small and medium-sized aircrafts; Villa Las Brujas; the Cayo Las Brujas Marina; and the hotels Grand Sirenis Cayo Santa María, Selectum Family Resort, Grand Aston Cayo Santa María, Dhawa Cayo Santa María and Angsana Santa María.
In the next demarcation, Cayo Ensenachos, only one hotel has been built, the Iberostar Selection Ensenachos, and the Dolphinarium, which is home to important species of the local fauna, such as dolphins, sea lions and turtles, among others.
In Cayo Santa María (the longest island) most of the housing infrastructure is present, including hotels Meliá Buenavista, Villa Zaida del Río, Meliá Cayo Santa María, Sol Cayo Santa María, Meliá Las Dunas, Playa Cayo Santa María, Starfish Cayo Santa María, Royalton Cayo Santa María, Memories Paraíso Azul, Be Live Colection Cayo Santa María, ROC Cayo Santa María, Casa del Mar, Paradisus Los Cayos and Valentín Perla Blanca.
The Commercial Director of Gaviota Tours Centro said that, in addition to the hotels, in the Keys of Villa Clara there are also other complementary tourism facilities such as the Las Terrazas Tourist Plaza, with stores, gastronomic offers and entertainment; and the Cayo Santa María Fauna Refuge, a site of endemic flora and fauna.
Also available are the Gaviota Options, which include excursions to the main attractions in the central region of the country; and tourist transportation offers, such as the panoramic bus tour and car and motorcycle rentals.
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTIONS
Regarding the strategy implemented for the recovery of the tourist destination and the especial goal to achieve 200,000 visitors, Director of the Gaviota Tours Centro Agency, Aile de las Mercedes Cabrera highlighted the recovery of direct flights to the Cays, through the local airport of Cayo Las Brujas as one of the priorities.
She explained that before the pandemic, there were ten weekly flights Havana-Cayo Las Brujas, with a daily frequency, and two on Tuesdays and Saturdays; however, after the impact of the epidemic, it has not been possible to reestablish domestic flights.
Regarding this very important item to recover the influx of visitors to the site, the directive informed that it is expected to resume in July at least one or two weekly frequencies, and for the high season, daily flights to Havana.
However, she stressed that today, collective transportation is guaranteed throughout the country. In this regard, he said that current clients arrive through the Abel Santamaría International Airport in Santa Clara, or on the daily Havana-Santa María, Havana-Cayo Coco, Varadero-Santa María routes, among other combinations.
Aile de las Mercedes Cabrera also referred, as another of the recovery strategies, to the promotion actions to add other markets to the destination.
Currently, and as it happens in most of the country's tourist enclaves, the Canadian market is in the lead in the Villa Clara Keys, with 90%.
However, work is being done to diversify and attract other foreign markets such as the European market (depressed due to the pandemic and other socio-political factors such as the Ukraine-Russia war and the intensification of the blockade), or the Argentinean market, the latter with a greater presence, as a result of actions that have been taken.
For this purpose -reiterated the Director of Gaviota Tours Centro- air operations are essential. At present, only Copa Airlines (from Panama), Sunwing, Air Canada and Transat (from Canada) operate regularly from Santa Clara Airport, in addition to some Viva Aerobus operations from Mexico.
The directive highlighted the fact that the Santa Clara Airport is already prepared to receive large aircraft, as a result of the remodeling works carried out on the runway, so all that remains are the promotional activities and alliances that can be made to expand air frequencies.
During the meeting, it was announced that Azur Air is expected to kick off operations in July, with direct flights from Russia -some of them with a stopover in Turkey- to Havana and Varadero, which could benefit the Villa Clara Keys.
The top executive of Gaviota Tours Centro said that another of the Group's lines of work for the Keys is to host events in this small territory, to occupy the low-cost rooms, which can be used for that kind of activities.
Aile de las Mercedes Cabrera highlighted that the Keys of Villa Clara is the only tourist pole operated exclusively by the Gaviota Tourism Group, in connection with the foreign chains that manage some hotels, except for the Hotel Playa Cayo Santa María, the only one of its own brands managed entirely by Gaviota.
Specifically, in these keys, the Gaviota Group works with ten foreign hotel chains, which operate in Las Brujas, Ensenachos and Santa María, and they are: Meliá, Ballantrae, ATG, Sirenis, Archipiélago, ROC, Blue Diamonds, Iberostar, MGM Muthu, Valentin.
