CUBA
Cuba’s tobacco farmers are finally seeing a bumper crop after two bad years that coincided with a boom in demand set off by a surge of tourists and looser US regulations on cigar-buying. This spring, the fields in Pinar del Rio province are carpeted with healthy green tobacco plants. Farmers believe that this will be the best crop in many years.
Cuban cigar sales topped US$430 million in 2016, with demand increasing both nationally and worldwide. While tourists and visitors drive domestic demand, distributors overseas are also reporting record sales in an important source of foreign revenue for the cash-strapped government.