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Cuban cigar sales plummeted 8 pct in '09
By WILL WEISSERT
Associated Press Writer
HAVANA -- Cuban cigar sales tumbled 8 percent to $360 million in 2009 and have fallen by more than a tenth in the past two years as the demand for luxury goods around the world has plunged.
Government-run tobacco company Habanos SA said Monday that sales were most sluggish last year in Spain, the top market for the island's coveted stogies, but one also ravaged by recession and rising unemployment.
A drop in international travel also hurt sales at airport duty free shops in Cuba and elsewhere, which account for as much as 23 percent of the company's total business, said Habanos Vice President Manuel Garcia.
"This is not what we were expecting, not what we hoped for anyway," Garcia said during a news conference kicking off Cuba's five-day annual cigar festival.
Garcia said economic turmoil has decimated demand for all kinds of finer things, from cognac to luxury convertibles to cigars. Habanos sales slumped 3 percent in 2008, when a financial crisis sent stock and commodities prices plummeting around the world.
"It's been a series of negative factors," Garcia said.
The rest of the article
By WILL WEISSERT
Associated Press Writer
HAVANA -- Cuban cigar sales tumbled 8 percent to $360 million in 2009 and have fallen by more than a tenth in the past two years as the demand for luxury goods around the world has plunged.
Government-run tobacco company Habanos SA said Monday that sales were most sluggish last year in Spain, the top market for the island's coveted stogies, but one also ravaged by recession and rising unemployment.
A drop in international travel also hurt sales at airport duty free shops in Cuba and elsewhere, which account for as much as 23 percent of the company's total business, said Habanos Vice President Manuel Garcia.
"This is not what we were expecting, not what we hoped for anyway," Garcia said during a news conference kicking off Cuba's five-day annual cigar festival.
Garcia said economic turmoil has decimated demand for all kinds of finer things, from cognac to luxury convertibles to cigars. Habanos sales slumped 3 percent in 2008, when a financial crisis sent stock and commodities prices plummeting around the world.
"It's been a series of negative factors," Garcia said.
The rest of the article
