Cuba will boost its lodging capacity to more than 78,000 rooms by 2020, up from 58,434 rooms at present. That’s the word from Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero, speaking at the 33rd Feria Internacional de Turismo.

FITCuba 2013, held May 7-9 at Varadero’s Plaza de las Américas convention center, attracted hundreds of travel agents from more than 50 countries including a fairly large delegation from Brazil thanks to a recent agreement between the Cuban government and Brazil’s Institute of Tourism (Embratur).

Marrero said Cuba will receive just over 3.0 million tourists this year, representing an 8% increase over the 2.84 million who visited in 2012.

The first two months of 2013 have shown the highest figures since 2008, with a total of 602,862 foreign tourists arriving in January and February alone.

Leading sources of tourism are Canada, Great Britain, Germany and Italy, followed by Argentina, Brazil, China and Russia (the last jumping from 37,000 in 2009 to 87,000 in 2012).

Spain, however, has fallen to 10th place in spite of the growing investments and projects conducted by Spanish companies.

Spain’s Grupo Sol Meliá is currently operating 24 hotels in Cuba, and other Spanish companies will complete four major resorts in 2013.

As recently as 2006, Spain was vying for first place with Canada in terms of tourists in Cuba, but a continuing economic crisis at home its unemployment rate now stands at 27.2% has taken its toll on Spanish tourism to Cuba.

Tourism is now Cuba’s second-largest source of foreign revenue after the export of technical and professional services, bringing in an estimated $2.1 billion a year.

“Cuba is a country of natural beauty, vast cultural and historical heritages [and is] one of the safest countries in the world, with a hospitable and educated people,” Marrero told delegates attending the annual travel trade fair.

Varadero was, and remains, the crown jewel of Cuba’s tourism attractions along with Havana. Its airport receives an average 10 flights a day, for a total of 1.4 million passengers in 2012.

Of Cuba’s 335 hotels, 71% are along beaches, 23% in cities and 2% in natural reserves. Likewise, 65% of the 58,434 rooms in Cuba’s hotel inventory are in 4- and 5-star properties.

TripAdvisor.com recently extended recognition to several Cuban resorts in its listing of “romantic lodges in the Caribbean,” including Sol Cayo Guillermo in the province of Ciego de Avila; Meliá Buenavista in Villa Clara, and Paradisus Río de Oro, in Holguín. The island is also seeing an explosion in the number of privately run bed-and-breakfast inns, thanks to the relaxation of rules governing private enterprise.

Cubans themselves are beginning to cash in on the growing tourism market. One local sales agent in Havana recently told AFP news agency that in just one day, he sold $53,000 in reservations to Cuban nationals something unimaginable five years ago.

Since January, Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism has been conducting major marketing campaigns in Madrid, Rome, Milan, Río de Janeiro and Moscow, seeking to open new markets and regain lost ground in others.

At the same time, Cuba is planning to start its first joint cruise experience in association with Cyprus-based Louis Cruises. The 960-passenger Louis Cristal will operate during the winter season (December-March), calling on Havana, Cayo Coco, Holguín, Cienfuegos, Santiago de Cuba and Montego Bay; packages will be aimed at the European market.

Cuba isn’t alone in seeing a rise in tourism.

Visitor traffic to the Caribbean is expected to go up by 4-5% this year, predicts the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organization.

That follows strong growth in 2012 that saw the Caribbean islands welcome 25 million visitors, 5.4% more than in 2011 and the largest number of stayover visitors in five years.

“All the signs suggest Caribbean tourism is rallying,” said CTO President Beverly Nicholson-Doty of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“We see arrival numbers rising, particularly out of North America,” she told reporters. “Hotel revenues are moving in the right direction, albeit with moderate acceleration, and we see tourist spending in the increase.”

In 2012, visitors to the Caribbean spent $27.5 billion, 3.6% more than in 2011 and the third consecutive year tourism expenditures went up. The CTO says this marks the return of spending by tourists to levels seen before the global economic recession of 2008-09.

The Spanish-speaking Caribbean (Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and the Mexican resorts of Cancún and Cozumel) saw an average 6% rise in tourism arrivals.

Cuban news sources indicate that Brazil’s Odebrecht conglomerate will spend $150 million to remodel and upgrade Havana’s José Martí International Airport.

Apparently this was among projects discussed by Cuban Vice President Marino Murillo during his recent visit to Brazil.

In addition, Russia may construct a new international airport at San Antonio Air Base, 30 km from Havana and 10 km from José Martí. Denis Mantourov, Russia’s minister of industry and commerce, said his country will also build a transport center and joint international airline with flights to Latin America, Caribbean and North American destinations.