Travel Salem welcomed news earlier this month that the U.S. Congress passed legislation to create economic growth and thousands of new American jobs by welcoming millions more international travelers to the United States. The Travel Promotion Act will allow the United States to establish a multi-million dollar promotion program to compete on the global stage for the billions of dollars and immeasurable goodwill that would come with overseas travelers. The bill is expected to become law within 10 days.

“The Salem area is an international destination with visitors from all corners of the globe,” said Angie Morris, president and CEO of Travel Salem. “International travelers seek out Salem for its authentic experiences, abundant and unique outdoor recreational opportunities, culinary bounty and rich historic amenities. This monumental legislation establishes a new revenue stream necessary to compete on the global stage. Travel Salem will continue its partnership with Travel Oregon as we look for new ways to attract international travelers and leverage this new legislation.”

“This is a historic victory for the U.S. economy and the one in eight American workers whose jobs depend on travel,” said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. “The United States Congress has sent a clear message that travel is a high priority to our nation and that tangible steps must be taken to increase travel to and within the United States. We are extremely grateful to the bill’s champions: Senators Reid, Dorgan, Ensign and Klobuchar in the Senate and Representatives Delahunt, Blunt and Farr in the House.”

The Travel Promotion Act establishes a public-private partnership to promote the United States as a premier international travel destination and communicate U.S. security and entry policies. According to analysis by Oxford Economics, the bill is estimated to drive $4 billion in new consumer spending annually, provide $321 million in new federal tax revenue each year and create 40,000 U.S. jobs nationwide. Further, it is expected to reduce the federal budget deficit by $425 million over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Overseas visitors spend an average of more than $4,000 when they visit the United States.

The Travel Promotion Act is modeled after successful state-level initiatives and is funded through a matching program featuring up to $100 million in private sector contributions and a $10 fee on foreign travelers who do not pay $131 for a visa to enter the United States. The fee is collected once every two years in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security’s Electronic System for Travel Authorization. No money is provided by U.S. taxpayers.

The U.S. Travel Association is the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the $770 billion travel industry. U.S. Travel’s mission is to promote and facilitate increased travel to and within the United States. For more information, visitwww.ustravel.org.

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***Travel Salem is a non-profit organization that promotes Salem and Marion and Polk counties for leisure tourism and convention and event business. The local annual economic impact of the greater Salem area visitor industry is $496 million. Travel Salem manages the Official Salem Area Travel Café/Visitors Center located at the historic Grand Hotel building (181 High St. NE, Salem), two I-5 satellite visitor information locations located at the Best Western Mill Creek Inn (3125 Ryan Dr. SE) and the Red Lion Hotel (3301 Market St. NE), and the Official Salem Area Website www.TravelSalem.com***

After leaving Santa Lucia Beach, we suggest going towards the East of Cuba. Traveling along the Northern coast, you have made a tour very infrequent in the country, very different from the itinerary usually suggested in tourist brochures.

Before 1976, Cuba had only six provinces. That year the new Administrative Political Division was promulgated and the number of provinces increased from six to fourteen; that is to say, the country started to have fourteen provinces. Of those six first old provinces, Oriente was the largest. From it, five new provinces appeared: Las Tunas, Holguin, Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba and Granma. They are all in the East of Cuba and it is to these provinces that you are heading.

These provinces actually defer from the rest of Cuba in several ways. For instance, from the physical and geographical point of view they have the biggest concentration of small bays, including that of Nipe, the largest in Cuba. Also, the largest amount of navigating rivers for small boats engaged in local transportation, including the river with the largest flow in Cuba, the Toa, and the longest one, the Cauto, which also has the biggest basin in the country, suitable for navigation in part of its course. The fluvial cannons are also remarkable, particularly in the Eastern part of these elevations. In some large rivers next to Baracoa, long deltas with an arrow shape known as ¨tibaracones¨ can be found in the river mouths, which are unique in Cuba.

Towards the Easternmost part is Baracoa, the first village founded by the Spanish colonists and the only place in Cuba where it rains all the year round. This area is part of the Nipe-Sagua-Baracoa mountain range, one of the most mountainous and elevated areas of the country, besides displaying the richest biological variety not only of Cuba but also of the whole Caribbean and one of the most important places in the world regarding the concentration of endemic species. That is the reason for its great importance from the bio-geographic point of view.

Among these endemic species, the Almiquí (Solenodon Cubanus), insectivorous and very primitive, is remarkable. It should be pointed out that it is thought that the Royal Woodpecker (Campephilus Principalis Bairdi), still lives in those elevations, considered the largest-size woodpecker in the whole planet. Besides, these mountains are the sanctuary where the mollusks of the Polymita type are located, considered the most beautiful in the world.

In this mountain range, the only stone bridge in Cuba can be found, the Bitirí, over the river of the same name, declared National Monument. There are also the National Parks La Mensura (still to be declared), Pico Cristal and Alejandro de Humboldt. Next to them is the most important area of multi-metal mineral deposits in Cuba, among them nickel, cobalt and manganese, and others.

Also the largest mountain range in Cuba is located in these provinces, the Sierra Maestra, which has several peaks that exceed the 1000 meters of height, where the National Parks La Bayamesa, Desembarco del Granma and Turquino are. The latter occupies part of the highest mountain in Cuba: the Turquino Royal Peak, with about 1962 meters over the sea level. This is also where the deepest waters next to the Cuban coasts are, in the so called Fosa de Bartlett (Bartlett Pit), at almost 2000 meters of depth.

All along the Southern coast are the places where the earthquakes are more frequent, although of low intensity. Particularly in the Western section of the Southern coast there is the narrowest and longest coastal plain of the country, bordered by a mountain system and crossed by a road where numerous volcanic rocks show ( granites, basalts, etc), during the whole trajectory. Also in the South are the most important systems of marine terraces in the Caribbean where the National Park Desembarco del Granma (Granma landing) is. Because of its natural wonders, it was declared Natural Heritage of Mankind by UNESCO, in the category Natural Landscape of Mankind.

We should also point out that in the Southern coast are the only vegetable formations in the whole Caribbean which are similar to the vegetation of true deserts. Even in the highest hills of the Sierra Maestra you can find two vegetable formations unique in the country: the Monte Nublado (Cloudy Hill) and the Monte Fresco (Cool Hill).

From the social and cultural point of view the Southern area also has numerous elements of great interest. For instance, several museums of natural history, of the history of the Wars of Independence against the Spanish power and of passages of the Cuban Revolution, of outstanding personalities of the country, architectural styles and Cuban ways of life. You can find them not only in the province capitals but in the nearby cities and places of interest; among them, Baracoa, Gibara, Puerto Padre, Banes, Baconao and Manzanillo. We will provide more information about them when we suggest their visit.

All these places will be recommended because of their great importance; one of them, Bariay, Holguín, is the place where Christopher Columbus landed for the first time in Cuba, in 1492. Also, the Santa Iphigenia Cemetery, in Santiago de Cuba, where the remains of Jose Martí, the Apostle of Cuba rest. It would be interesting to visit La Demajagua, in Granma province, the place where the declaration of the War of Independence against Spain was made, as well as the family house of Fidel and Raúl Castro, a sample of the wooden architecture at that time, in Biran, Holguin.

It was in the provinces located in the South where most of the refugees from Haiti came at the triumph of the Haitian Revolution in 1791. The ruins of the old French coffee plantations are magnificent, as their influence on the Cuban culture of those provinces is deep. The cultural expressions of these areas are very much related to this influence, among them La Tumba Francesa (the French Drum) of which UNESCO praises its state of preservation, protection and the importance given to this cultural form by the Cuban State.

This part of Cuba is also the most closely related to the Caribbean culture, to such an extent that Santiago de Cuba is known as the Balcony of the Caribbean because of its great affinity with the Caribbean musical rhythms, much more so than the rest of Cuba. The carnivals in these provinces are different from the rest of the country. In this city, the Caribbean Festival, also known as the Fire Party, ingrained in the Caribbean culture, is held in July.

It is suggested to start your tour next to the Northern coast, visiting the center of the provinces to see their capitals as in Las Tunas and Holguin, while in the rest of the mentioned provinces, which are more mountainous, you follow the Northern coast and then towards the South, passing the mountain ranges through roads where the landscapes are wonderful. One of the most outstanding is La Farola, a road unique in Cuba. You will enjoy all of it in next articles.

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