Quebec tourists who are currently in Cuba or were planning to go there soon can now breathe. On Thursday, the Cuban Tourism Office in Montreal announced that electricity had been restored to 100% in hotels and all tourist areas.
A malfunction in the country's main thermal power station caused the entire network to collapse last Friday.
As if that wasn't enough, the island with a population of 10 million also had to deal with the passage of the hurricane Oscar.
The Category 1 weather phenomenon swept through the eastern part of the island on Sunday and Monday, delaying recovery work and causing further outages.
For holidays
As of Tuesday, electricity had been restored to about 71% of the population. The situation will be better in the tourism sectors.
“We have direct reports from the destination confirming that hotels are fully operational across the country. All facilities and services have returned to normal. Our customers are enjoying their usual tourism activities, and business continues as usual,” Michel Bernal, director of the Cuban Tourism Office in Montreal, said in a press release. “.
The press release also confirms that the tornado Oscar It did not hit hotels or tourist infrastructure in Holguin. Alternatively, through Guantanamo County, where there are not many seaside resorts.
According to the press release, the ten international airports continued to operate normally despite all the problems.
The office points out that “despite the negative media coverage of some events, the reality is that the majority of tourist facilities have their own generators.” The Ministry of Tourism, representatives of local tour operators as well as hotel management and staff have done everything they can to minimize the impact.
People are under pressure
However, Quebecers who were on vacation in Cuba testified Monday newspaper Difficulties on the ground. One noted that Cuban employees were often “tired” and “stressed out.”
“the [Cubains] They're hungry, and it hurts the heart […] Another said: “People shouldn't travel right now, otherwise bring food.”
“They go out of their way to accommodate us even though they don't have much,” one travel agent said.
According to cubadebate.cu, which is state-owned like all Cuban media, the island has not reached the end of its problems.
Union Eléctrica, Cuba's electricity company, estimated Thursday that it can only provide 65% of electricity consumption during peak hours. If its production increases to 1990 megawatts, the maximum demand is estimated at 3050 megawatts.
The Canadian government still has a warning in effect to “avoid non-essential travel to Guantanamo and Holguin Provinces due to hurricane impacts.” Oscar“.
– With Jean-Philippe Guilbault and Agence France-Presse
