The leisure industry on the largest Antillean Island, which was negatively affected by the difficult international economic situation during 2002, revealed the potential of hotel groups, travel agencies and tour operators to improve efficiency parameters.

In that context, the Pyramid Award - created by the company Vacacionar Travel S.A. - is an acknowledgement of quality, professionalism and dedication of its service providers in Cuba.

The company, founded in 1999 with associated tour operators all over the world and represented as a branch in the Chamber of Commerce, promotes tourism to Cuba and the Caribbean, making emphasis on reservations of vacations on the island.

The Sevilla Hotel, which opened in Havana in 1908, received the Pyramid Award in the categories of best-selling hotel in Cuba and the most visited lodging facility by Internet users at www.dtcuba.com.

Owned by the Cuban group Gran Caribe and run by the French consortium Accor, the Sevilla Hotel shows a rejuvenated look after a restoration project that expanded its potentialities and allowed the establishment to consolidate itself as a classic hotel in the Cuban capital.

Accor, which is among the top ten hotel chains in the world by the number of rooms (some 390,000 in 3,488 establishments), received the Pyramid Award for the Best Foreign Hotel Group.

The French group's strategy in Cuba is aimed at running over 15 hotels that will operate under the company's different brands. The list already includes such establishments as Novotel Miramar, Mercure Cuatro Palmas and Coralia Club Playa de Oro.

The Pyramid Award for the Best Car-Rental Company went to Rex Rent a Car and Limousine Service, which provides deluxe services for tourism and businesspeople in Cuba.

The vehicle and limousine rental company offers a unique product in the Cuban market, with a stock of cars from such automakers as Volkswagen and Audi.

HABAGUANEX S.A., a company attached to the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana and operating in the Cuban capital's historic center, where it has an excellent infrastructure, received the Pyramid Award for the Best Cuban Hotel Group.

A dozen of hotels and inns housed in centuries-old buildings and surrounded by historic attractions form part of the company's offer, in addition to commercial establishments, museums, art galleries and gastronomic facilities.

The awards for the Best Associated Agency, which went to the French company Novela Travel, and for the Best Reservation System, which was granted to the Cuban group Hoteles Horizontes, complement the Pyramid's steps to excellence.