Cuba's tourism industry, which is among the fastest-growing sectors in the Caribbean region, offers a huge potential to develop traditional beach and sun programs.

In addition, recreation is complemented by additional attractions, including gastronomy, health tourism, nautical activities, culture and diving.

Therefore, tourism in Cuba is combined with medical treatments to improve vacationers' quality of life. One of those options is thalassotherapy, which benefits from the fact that Cuba is an island.

This medical specialty is based on the simultaneous use of the marine environment (wind, water and climate), as well as other resources, such as mud, sand and algae, with therapeutic ends.

The very development of Cuba's five-century-old society is present in many culinary options that have been enriched by dishes from other countries.

In addition to Cuban cuisine, cafeterias and restaurants throughout the country serve dishes from Europe (Spanish, French and Italian cuisine), as well as Asia and the Middle East (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arab and Indian cuisine), just to mention some of them.

Other attractions can be found in the sea surrounding the island, which has a pleasant temperature all year around and is an excellent choice to practice nautical activities.

In that regard, diving enthusiasts can enjoy more than 70,000 kilometer of Cuba's insular platform and 5,000 kilometer of coastline, bathed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Nearly 6,500 varieties of fish, crustaceans, sponges and mollusks, in addition to several species of corals, turn the Caribbean Island into one of the best-preserved submarine ecosystems in the region.

Three dozen specialized diving centers operate throughout the country, offering initiation courses and diving excursions in coral reefs and caverns, and following strict international standards for that activity.

Other centers combine recreation and knowledge about the marine environment for tourists of all ages.

The infrastructure of Cuba's tourism industry is aimed at protecting the country's historic and cultural wealth, so it is complemented by a nationwide network of more than 300 museums.

Cuba has museums on arts, science and technology, ethnography, anthropology and history, among other topics.

One of the most relevant institutions is the National Museum of Fine Arts, which was founded in 1913 and had its own building in 1954, when the Palace of Fine Arts was built.

The Cuban capital also has a centuries-old defense system, in which the emblematic Castillo de Los Tres Reyes del Morro stands out. The defense system consisted of nine fortresses that made the most outstanding complex of its kind in the Spanish-speaking Americas at the time, according to experts.