“El Caribe que nos une” Relaciones Públicas en Cuba: una mirada desde el Turismo / "The Caribbean that unites us". Public relations in Cuba: a tourism perspective

Abstract

Las Relaciones Públicas han sido clasificadas en 6 etapas desde su surgimiento en Cuba (1956) hasta la fecha (2021). Sin embargo, no es hasta la tercera fase (1990-1998) que comienza el despertar de la disciplina, coincidiendo con la germinación de la especialidad en el escenario político, económico y social en que se encontraba el país en aquellos años. También la década de los 90 marcó pauta en el desarrollo del Turismo en Cuba, a partir de entonces se crearon o ampliaron varias instituciones turísticas como agencias de viajes, entidades hoteleras y extra-hoteleras, incluso el Ministerio de Turismo- en lo adelante MINTUTR-. Asimismo se establecieron varías vías de relaciones, lo cual permitió evidenciar el rol que desempeñó las Relaciones Públicas. Este binomio alcanzó cada vez más importancia, logrando además un sentido bidireccional, al punto que se le atribuye -en cierta medida- a las Relaciones Públicas el crecimiento exponencial del Turismo. Esta herramienta ha sido de vital importancia, ya que está presente en el ciclo de la experiencia del cliente en los 4 momentos claves: atracción, atención, fidelización y retroalimentación; y en donde se empodera la figura del relacionista público desde los graduados en el área comunicacional, hasta los que de alguna manera están en contacto directo con el cliente. En la investigación se realiza un diagnóstico fundamentalmente a partir de revisión bibliográfica y entrevistas con expertos, así mismo se arriban a resultados en los que se despliegan una serie de oportunidades esenciales para la mejora del Turismo mediante las Relaciones Públicas. De manera general,si se realza la confianza en el sector turístico y se tiene en cuenta la situación actual ocasionada por la COVID-19, se logrará el éxito en el desarrollo de las Relaciones Públicas en el Turismo en Cuba.

Palabras Clave: Relaciones Públicas, Cuba, Turismo

Abstract

Public Relations have been classified into 6 stages from its emergence in Cuba (1956) to date (2021); However, it was not until the third phase (1990-1998) that the discipline began to awaken, coinciding with the germination of the specialty in the political, economic and social scene in which the country found itself in those years. The 90s also set the tone in the development of Tourism in Cuba, from then on several tourist institutions were created or expanded such as travel agencies, hotel and extra-hotel entities, including the Ministry of Tourism - hereinafter MINTUTR- ; Likewise, various avenues of relations were established, which made it possible to demonstrate the role that Public Relations played on the island. This binomial became increasingly important, also achieving a bidirectional sense, to the point that the exponential growth of Tourism is attributed - to a certain extent - to Public Relations. A small diagnosis carried out during the investigative process, showed that there are a set of weaknesses in relation to the current attention of Public Relations in the territory, which need to be combated and take a series of measures for their improvement, much more so, if they are takes into account that the current situation in Cuba was exacerbated by the entire epidemiological scenario caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which results in further distancing from the competition. This tool has been of vital importance, since it is present in the customer experience cycle in the 4 key moments: attraction, attention, loyalty and feedback; and where the figure of the public relations officer is empowered from graduates in the communication area, to those who are in some way in direct contact with the client, since although they do not know the theory, it does add great value to their satisfaction, reaching even turning a product / service that did not deliver on its promise into a positive one. The aforementioned diagnosis is carried out mainly from: bibliographic review, interview with specialists from different tourism companies, business owners and the assessment of experts through a test on the purification or relevance of the problems obtained. From this, two great results are reached where a series of essential opportunities are displayed for the improvement of Public Relations from the tourist perspective. The first summarizes the concept of strong binomial that exists between Tourism and Public Relations, in such a way that, if the found weaknesses were solved, it would be possible to enhance the confidence of the tourism sector and therefore of Public Relations. This section is supported by 4 elements that are pointed out in order to achieve the success of this first task. These fundamentals are: structure, the education of the new public relations officer, interrelationships and competition. The second focuses on the change in behavior that has caused the impact of the pandemic, which puts in value not only the role of Public Relations, but also shows that they are facing a new challenge. In summary, the research makes it clear that, if the aforementioned actions are carried out, success will be achieved in the development of Public Relations in Tourism in Cuba.

Keywords: Public Relation, Cuba, Tourism