Rural tourism and its immediate future in the context of COVID-19 in Cuba

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the development of tourism worldwide. This research was developed with the objective of assessing rural tourism and its immediate future in the context of COVID-19 in Cuba. For this purpose, a study of possible futures was carried out, where it was convenient only to arrive at exploratory scenarios based on the probability, importance and date of occurrence of the events, with a panel of five specialists consulted online. The development of the research was based on the results of the situational analysis and summary of the situation, for which both a synchronic and diachronic study was carried out. From this, it was determined that rural tourism in Cuba, as a product, is in the growth stage, having a good image, high demand and excellent market prospects, so that the trend, referential and framing scenarios reflect an optimistic assessment in the face of the possible occurrence of events of a political-legal and management nature, among others. It is valid to point out that it was determined that Cuba has potentialities for the development of rural tourism, however, the available data on its behavior PRE-COVID are almost null and the information on its management is limited, for which reason the managers of the tourism sector and rural spaces are limited in their decision making, even more so in the new context of the pandemic and its immediate future.