Categories
· Business (Tobacco)
· Cigars
non-USA, by Country
· Cuba
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Jump to full article: Associated Press (AP), 2009-02-23
Author: Associated Press
Intro: Cuba's cigar industry survived a trio of hurricanes but saw sales slip 3 percent to $390 million last year as the world economic crisis reduced demand for luxury goods, the island's tobacco monopoly said today.
Habanos SA vice president Manuel Garcia said an 11 percent drop in international travelers slowed cigar sales at duty free shops, which account for a quarter of its business, while stricter smoking laws in Germany, France, the U.K. and United Arab Emirates also decreased demand.
Some 25 percent of the 400 million cigars sold worldwide last year were Cuban, with Spain, France, Germany and then Cuba itself buying the most, said Javier Terres, a vice president for development at Habanos. Excluding the U.S., which consumes about 250 million cigars a year, Cubans hold 70 percent of the global cigar market, he added.
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