MOSCOW, Match 14. /TASS/. Cuba expects to receive more than 200,000 Russian tourists this year and up to half a million in the future, Tourism Minister Juan Carlos Garcia Granda said.

"Over 200,000 Russian tourists [are expected to visit Cuba]. This is not a very big number in absolute terms, but it will be quite a motivating result for us," he said at a press conference in TASS.

"I hope that in the short term, while I am still a minister, we will reach half a million [of Russian tourists]," the minister added.

Earlier, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) reported, citing the Cuban Tourism Ministry, that the flow of tourists from Russia to Cuba in 2023 increased 3.4 times compared to the previous year's 184,800 Russians, thus exceeding the pre-pandemic record.