Cuba says yes to tourism, no to gambling and drugs

HAVANA -- President Fidel Castro says Cuba wants to develop tourism fit for the whole family, without the illegal drugs and gambling.

"You won't see any casinos here," Castro said Tuesday night as he inaugurated a new resort on the island's northeastern coast. "Nor will there be drugs."

Before the 1959 revolution that brought Castro to power, Americans regularly traveled to Cuba to gamble at the island's many casinos. Gambling was declared illegal shortly after the new government took power.

Castro's speech at the inauguration of the Hotel Playa Pesquero in the eastern province of Holguin was broadcast nationwide, underscoring the importance the government places on the new five-hotel complex of 944 rooms that can house up to 1,500 tourists.

The $100 million complex was completed in 22 months using Cuban capital and construction workers with technical assistance by the French firm Bouygues, Castro said. It will be managed by Gaviota S.A., one of the Cuban government's numerous tour operators.

Communist Cuba wants "safe and sane recreation" for its visitors, Castro said. "Besides, I don't see any future for a tourism that doesn't guarantee the safety and health of its visitors."

The government is struggling to control problems associated with increased tourism to the island, especially drug sales and use blamed mostly on a growing number of visitors.

The number of visitors to the island jumped 33 percent in January compared with the same month in 2002, giving officials hope that tourism is recovering from a drop in international travel after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

In reporting the increase, Tourism Minister Ibrahim Ferradez did not give specifics on the number of visitors. The number of visitors dropped 5 percent last year to 1.6 million.

Cuba's socialist government began developing tourism in the early 1990s to diversify its economy after losing its most important trade partner, the Soviet Union. It now boasts 40,000 hotel rooms island wide.

Tourism is now Cuba's No. 1 source of foreign income, with 1.6 million visitors generating about $2 billion last year -- despite the slump.

The northern coast of Holguin has been the site of much of the new development, with visitors coming primarily from Canada, Germany, Britain, Italy, France and Switzerland.

"Our friends from the north are not in this list," Castro said with a grin, referring to Americans who are restricted by U.S. Treasury Department regulations from traveling to the island.