United Nations Recognizes the National Hotel of Cuba

The Cuban Association of the United Nations delivered , in World Tourism Day, the commemorative seal for the 60th Anniversary of the National Hotel in the capital.

A report released by the Tourism Ministry added that this constitutes one of the meeting programmed for this date that was recognized world wide and now under the slogan of Tourism and Biological Diversity.

Previously the seal was granted to Casa de las Americas and the Cuban Institute of Art and Film Industry (ICAIC) for their historic and cultural values.

Now it was the turn of the National Hotel of Cuba, symbol of tourism in the country and its hotel industry.

The ceremony took place in the Taganana Hall of the hotel in the presence of workers and officials of the institution and coincided with the celebration in 2010 of the 80th birthday of this center of recreation founded in December of 1930.

Symbol of Cuban five star hotel industries the National is managed by the Gran Caribe hotel group.

The hotel was designed by Mokim Mead and White Architects of New York and the construction was done by Purdy Henderson Company.

Its importance is ratified by its hosts such as Johnny Weismuller, Ava Gardner, Buster Keaton, Errol Flynn, Frank Sinatra and other personalities of films and politics.

During the 40s of last century the mark of distinction was supplied by Parisien Cabaret that is second only to the best in the country, Tropicana.

With 457 rooms, most with views of the sea (16 are suites and one is a presidential suite) the hotel is also the center of the most important tourism meetings in the country and other spheres.

Important Cuban Documents Added to Memory of the World

We are really very glad ‘cause a group of important Cuban document archives were added to the Memory of the World Program of the United Nations’ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization this week.

The collection on Jose Marti included some two thousands documents about the life and work of the Cuban national hero and the most complete film collection of significant events that took place in Cuba and the rest of the region between 1959 and 1990 are part of the legacy.

Also included were documentary collections “Life and Work of Ernesto Che Guevara” and “In a Canoe from the Amazons to the Caribbean”, an expedition carried out in 1987 led by the Cuban speleologist, Antonio Núñez Jiménez, following the route of pre-historic tribes from the Amazonian basins to mark their discovery of this geographic area.

The archives added to UNESCO's program was completed with the Historical Archives of Cuban surveyor Serafín Sanchez Govin, and the Collection of documents about people who have visited the Hotel National of Cuba and events that have been hosted by the National Monument facility.

Since 1992 UNESCO’s Memory of the World Program was created to preserve valuable archive holdings and world heritage’s collections.