Cuba is facing a beer shortage due to the influx of thirsty tourists and the island’s thriving bar and restaurant scenes. Picture: Arturo Pardavila III/Flickr
A NEW kind of crisis is unfolding in Cuba and Americans are squarely to blame.
More and more US citizens are taking advantage of their new-found freedom to travel to Cuba by descending on the Caribbean island nation en masse — and now it is running out of beer.
Cubans are struggling to get their hands on local favourite brews such as Cristal and Bucanero, thanks both to thirsty American tourists and a boom in cafes, restaurants and private drinking venues.
As demand exceeds production capacity, struggling Cuban breweries are resorting to drastic measures to stay afloat, local media reports.
Some breweries are importing beer from nearby Dominican Republic while Cuba’s main beer producer, Bucanero, is reportedly planning to open another plant.
“We have to build a new brewery to cover these requirements of the economy,” state news agency ACN’s marketing specialist Mayle Gonzalez said.
Tourists check out the sites in Old Havana. Picture: Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images
Bucanero producers four of the most popular brands of Cuban beer — its namesake brew Bucanero, as well as Cristal, Cacique and Mayabe.
It is looking to import three million cases of Dominican brew Presidente as a short-term solution.
Cuba’s existing breweries recently signed contracts for more than 33 million cases for the Business Fair to be held in Havana this week, which is considerably more than their current production capability will allow, local media reports.
To be fair, Americans aren’t all to blame. Tourism to the island has been going through the roof even before the US lifted travel sanctions.
Cristal is one of Cuba’s favourite beers. Picture: Konrad LembckeSource:Flickr
Cuba’s foreign visitor numbers have increased 17 per cent from 2014 to 2015, to about 3.5 million foreign visitors, according to figures from The Guardian.
Americans comprised about 161,000 of those tourists — a 77 per cent increase year over year — and that is expected to grow through the year.
The numbers are set to be further boosted when hundreds disembark a cruise ship from Miami in Havana next month, making history as the first voyage of its kind since Fidel Castro assumed power in the 1959 revolution.
Private bars are flourishing in the wake of increased interest in travel to Cuba. Picture: AP Photo/Desmond BoylanSource:AP
US President Barack Obama lifted strict restrictions on travel and commerce in communist Cuba in normalising a half-century of mostly tense relations with its Cold War-era foe.
Americans had previously been allowed to make educational visits to the country but a tourism ban prevented travel under most circumstances.
Obama sealed the deal with his own visit to Cuba in March — becoming the first American president to step foot on the island in 88 years.
Tourists swarmed to Old Havana after the United States eased restrictions for travel to Cuba in March. Picture: Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images
And the historic decision has meant boom time for Cuba’s tourism and hospitality sectors, which have already been flourishing since reforms by president Raul Castro five years ago allowed small-scale economic activities to operate without interference by the Communist state.
Arizona’s Republican senator Jeff Flake, who joined Obama on the March visit, said the lifting of travel bans was “recognition that the Cuban people, particularly the growing number of Cubans who run their own small businesses, benefit when Americans travel to the island”.
“Increased travel by Americans will lead to more Cuban entrepreneurs who are less dependent on the Cuban government,” he said.
“This is a great thing.”
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