A Chinese tour group arrived Tuesday in Havana, capital of Cuba, the first approved travel destination in the Americas for Chinese tourists. 

The 20-member tour group from Beijing will spend four days at the tourist resort of Varadero in Havana, then continue their trip to Chile, Brazil and Peru on a 19-day Latin American tour.

The Chinese tourists, the first arriving in Cuba in an individual way, chose to spend the Spring Festival, the lunar Chinese New Year, in the Caribbean country.

Cuba is the first tourist destination in the Americas approved by the Chinese authorities, which signed with Havana an agreement of understanding on tourism last July.

The airlines of the two countries, Air China and Cubana, have signed a letter of intent to collaborate and open a direct flight between Beijing and Havana.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Cuban Tourism Minister Ibrahim Ferradaz said both sides are optimistic about the future success of the bilateral tourist operations.

Many travel agencies in China have shown a keen interest in organizing tour groups to Cuba, which among other attractions has a cultural mixture, beautiful landscapes and a different reality as the only socialist country in the Western Hemisphere. 

(Xinhua News Agency January 21, 2004)