Cuban cigar sales drop 8 pct in ‘09

(Tobacco Facts) 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. Continued