Tourist management in Cuba in 2003, a year characterized by a complex international economic situation, revealed the potential of hotel groups, travel agencies and tour operators to improve efficiency.

Within that context, the Pyramid Awards - established by GRUPO VACACIONAR - is an acknowledgement of the quality, professionalism and dedication to doing business in the leisure industry by the group's service providers in Cuba.

With more than ten years of experience in the Cuban tourist market and represented at the Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Cuba by its branch Vacacionar Travel, GRUPO VACACIONAR has specialized in promoting and commercializing tourism to Cuba and the Caribbean through its agencies Viajes Vacacionar and Vacacionar Travel.

It also owns publications such as Directorio Turístico de Cuba (Tourist Guide to Cuba) and Guía de Carreteras de Cuba (Road Guide to Cuba), which are documents of reference on the tourism sector and provide useful information to travelers and communicators, in addition to having received renowned international awards.

As part of its work, GRUPO VACACIONAR will grant the 2003 Pyramid Awards and will present the 11th edition of Directorio Turístico de Cuba'2004, within the framework of the 24th Tourism Convention, to be held in the beach resort of Varadero.

On this occasion, the award in the Best-Selling Hotel category went to the Valencia-Comendador Inn, owned by HABAGUANEX S.A., which promotes tourism in Havana's historic heart.

HABAGUANEX S.A. runs a dozen hotels housed in centuries-old buildings surrounded by history, commercial centers, museums, art galleries and gastronomic establishments.

The award to the Best-Selling Foreign Chain went to the French group Accor, one of the top ten hotel groups in the world, which has 400,000 rooms in 1,500 hotels.

Hoteles Horizontes, which runs three- and four-star hotels, won the award in the Best-Selling Cuban Chain category, while its Reservation System won the Pyramid Award to efficiency.

GRUPO VACACIONAR chose the Habana Riviera Hotel, located in downtown Havana, as the hotel with more hits on its website.

The Best-Selling Car Rental Company was Rex Rent a Car, which provides an excellent service of luxury cars for tourism and businesspeople in Cuba.

Rex provides a unique service of limousines and high-performance cars that has no match in the Cuban market.

The 2003 Pyramid Award in the Associated Agency category went to Novela Travel, from France, while the Most Visited Website was www.dtcuba.com.