Buenos Aires, Dec 14 (PL) Cuba's tourism industry ratified its outstanding and solid presence in Argentina on Friday, when it won three Bitacora 2007 awards granted by the prestigious newspaper El Mensajero.

The representative office of Havanatur S.A. in Argentina won the Gold Bitacora Award as Cuba's Best Tour Operator, and Cubana de Aviacion's tour agency, Sol y Son, won the Silver Bitacora Award.

Cuba also received the Bronze Bitacora Award to the Best Promoted Foreign Tourist Destination, a category where Mexico won the gold prize and Brazil the silver award.

"In 2006 we also won the gold award, so for the second year in a row they have acknowledged our results and the challenge for excellence that we have set for ourselves," Maribel Fernandez, president of Havanatur S.A. in Argentina, told Prensa Latina.

She added that the company's plan for 2007 was to take 4,000 tourists to Cuba, but 4,500 vacationers had traveled to the Caribbean Island until November, accounting for a 50-percent increase compared to last year.

According to Mario Ramos Alvarez, director of Cuba's Tourist Information and Promotion Office for the South Cone, "getting a third place is an achievement among so many circuits that are sold here and we expect to climb one step up next year."

He added that as a tourist destination, Cuba's sales increased 23 percent in 2007 compared to last year, as a result of many more flights, more travel agents and operators to sell the Cuba product.

Ramos noted, "37,000 tourists will travel to Cuba this year and next year's plan is more than 40,000 vacationers, as five flights a week will operate to and from Cuba, in contrast to three flights at present."

The tourist publication El Mensajero grants the Bitacora Awards in 28 categories, including best airline, hotel chain, tour operator, tourist destination and car-rental company, among others.

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