According to the news agency ANSA, businesses dealing in foreign currency will profit from this new market.
In June, martinoticias.com published an article regarding the fact that Cuba is at the forefront of rum consumption per capita, according to statistics published by The Economist. Independent Cuban journalist Iván García reported from the Island that the majority of sales of Havana Club brand rum within Cuba were bought by Cubans and not by tourists.
Mr. García obtained his information from an employee of the French company Pernod-Ricard which handles the rum now known as La Giraldilla (the Havana Club brand currently legally belongs to the Bacardi firm).
ANSA expands the coverage by reporting that it is not only rum but also tourism and cigars –traditionally known as an export product or sold in foreign currency in Cuba—that are receptive to an internal market, promoted by a slight increase of purchasing power among Cubans.
ANSA correspondent Francisco Forteza quotes officials from Habanos S.A. corporation, which markets the world-famous Cuban cigars, according to which, the company “is developing projects with Cuban tourists institutions to train personnel that deals with the sales of cigars in restaurants and in specialized stores in Cuba," for the purpose of "increasing the sales of high-quality cigars within the country, to people of low and middle-income."
The correspondent points out that the objective seems directed to Cuban citizens whose purchasing power has increased, now that there are almost 440,000 small business owners and more than 170,000 independent farmers.
Nonetheless, before the cigar market, rum brand Legendario had launched several versions for the domestic market and it projects sales in 2014 of 560,000 units in CUC (Cuban pesos).
Forteza declared that “domestic” Cuban tourism increased by 12.6% in the first seven months of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012, ”which, according to experts brought revenue to the state coffers to 'compensate' for the decrease in tourists on vacation."
The ANSA article points out that last August, Cubans broke a record when in one single day, 17,099 stayed in hotels throughout Cuba, taking advantage of special discounts--a figure that singles out those who are pulling away from the ones who up to now had been their equal.
In June, martinoticias.com published an article regarding the fact that Cuba is at the forefront of rum consumption per capita, according to statistics published by The Economist. Independent Cuban journalist Iván García reported from the Island that the majority of sales of Havana Club brand rum within Cuba were bought by Cubans and not by tourists.
Mr. García obtained his information from an employee of the French company Pernod-Ricard which handles the rum now known as La Giraldilla (the Havana Club brand currently legally belongs to the Bacardi firm).
ANSA expands the coverage by reporting that it is not only rum but also tourism and cigars –traditionally known as an export product or sold in foreign currency in Cuba—that are receptive to an internal market, promoted by a slight increase of purchasing power among Cubans.
ANSA correspondent Francisco Forteza quotes officials from Habanos S.A. corporation, which markets the world-famous Cuban cigars, according to which, the company “is developing projects with Cuban tourists institutions to train personnel that deals with the sales of cigars in restaurants and in specialized stores in Cuba," for the purpose of "increasing the sales of high-quality cigars within the country, to people of low and middle-income."
The correspondent points out that the objective seems directed to Cuban citizens whose purchasing power has increased, now that there are almost 440,000 small business owners and more than 170,000 independent farmers.
Nonetheless, before the cigar market, rum brand Legendario had launched several versions for the domestic market and it projects sales in 2014 of 560,000 units in CUC (Cuban pesos).
Forteza declared that “domestic” Cuban tourism increased by 12.6% in the first seven months of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012, ”which, according to experts brought revenue to the state coffers to 'compensate' for the decrease in tourists on vacation."
The ANSA article points out that last August, Cubans broke a record when in one single day, 17,099 stayed in hotels throughout Cuba, taking advantage of special discounts--a figure that singles out those who are pulling away from the ones who up to now had been their equal.