HAVANA, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Cuba opened an international cigar festival Tuesday, featuring tours of tobacco plantations and historical cigar factories, games of blind cigar tasting and a cigar-making master class.
The 15th International Habano Cigar Festival, which runs through Saturday, is expected to bring about 1,000 cigar industry professionals, celebrities and cigar lovers from 70 countries around the world.
As this year's highlight, participants will experience gourmet cuisine prepared by famous local chefs with tobacco as a main ingredient and enjoy new cigars to be launched in 2013 internationally.
Cuban cigar sales rose 6 percent to 416 million U.S. dollars in 2012 compared with the previous year, thanks to emerging markets, said the Operational Marketing Director of the Habanos Corporation, Ana Lopez.
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