The brief visit in mid-March will mark a watershed moment in relations between the U.S. and Cuba, making Obama the first sitting U.S. president to set foot on the island in nearly seven decades. While in the country, Obama plans to meet with groups advocating for change in Cuba, a condition the president had laid […]
Only 90 miles off the coast of Florida yet seemingly out of reach for most Americans, Cuba just got a whole lot closer. Travelucion an online Cuba travel & Media Company, will begin offering online media promotion of packages from Florida based travel agents across its 432 Cuba focused websites in the coming […]
Controlling a gigantic portion of Cuba related internet traffic has just become a unique commodity that the Cuba digital media corporation Travelucion is relishing. The company's colossal group of 432 multilingual web properties seemingly dominating each and every internet search. Everything from the life of enigmatic American writer Ernest Hemingway in Cuba, to […]
There's been a quiet but relentless transformation in the Cuba Travel sector over the past 2 years. Cuba's Ministry of Tourism, better known via the acronym MINTUR, has slowly limited access to the U.S market by prohibiting all national service providers from selling to Americans. That is, besides Havanatur. Havanatur is a wholly owned […]
2014 has been a tough year for travel companies dealing with Cuba. Firstly, the shift away from centralized hotel bookings has seen Cuba's MINTUR tourism ministry ratchet up direct sales of hotels through Amadeus and locally managed hotel portals. The second step in this move will see those operating websites purporting to be […]
Vacation review giant Tripadvisor today announced the world's highest ranked all-inclusive resort. What makes the accolade so important is not only that it's the Cayo Santa Maria Royalton Hotel but, that the American company finally decided to give Cuban customer service a thumbs up and the prestigious title it deserves.The Cayo Santa Maria Royalton […]
On the 6th of May this year’s FITCuba will commence, once again held at the Morro Cabaña Castle in Havana Cuba, where it has been held for the past 9 years. Cuba’s annual MICE event is chaired by the top brass of the Ministry of Tourism or MINTUR. The Cuban tourism convention is designed […]
Not a surprise to many in the travel industry, Fastbooking and its Cuban branded Cuba Travel Network have ceased trading earlier this week. Attempts to contact Fastbooking for comment at both their New York and Paris offices have proved unsuccessful. It is unclear why Fastbooking - Cuba Travel Network will no longer provide Hotel Reservations […]
Every year Cuba's Ministry of tourism spends upwards of $25million on the renovation of its Cuban Car Rental fleets. However, each year the new cars purchased are often plagued with typical mechanical problems which render portions of the fleet unserviceable until spare parts can be delivered. A recent accord signed in mid 2013 […]
Fancy yourself as a part time journalist? Open a business in Cuba... In April 2012 my colleagues here wrote an extensive report on fraud in Cuba, revealed by a foreign blogger based in Cuba. However, it occurred to me that the ramifications of this article were not entirely analyzed and some important issues […]
A lot can happen in a decade, both in politics and business. During my initial visit to Cuba, Tour & Marketing was flying high, its staff a picture of happiness and success. After talking with Elba Castillo, their sales manager and Eddie Lubbers hotel sales manager, about the company's internet travel business, […]
The death of President Chavez may not be the blow to the Cuban economy some experts are claiming. Admittedly, Cuba has become heavily dependent on its Caribbean neighbor over the past 10 years, however, recent figures show that tourism could become Cuba´s saving grace as bookings skyrocket and most of the country is […]
Perversely, as Cuba´s tourism numbers increase, so do the opportunities for Cubans to exit the island. You see, while tourists wander around Old Havana snapping shots of decaying buildings, the Cubans sat in them are scheming about how to get out of the country. Some are courageous enough take to rafts to cross the […]
Between the 1970´s and early 1990´s the Cuban government had just one tourism travel agency called INTUR. However, after the fall of the Soviet Union, with a national eye on increasing tourism revenue, the then president, Fidel Castro, allowed various entities to sprout into life, each spearheaded by one ministry or another vying to […]
This all started with Senator Marco Rubio who recently slammed the Obama administrations travel openings in the United States senate. Here is an excerpt of his floor speech: "When I look at this stuff, you know what I want to say? Come on, man! This is about promoting democracy and freedom in Cuba? […]
In our recent article concerning the introduction, then slow winding back of liberties in Cuba, we offered evidence that Raul Castro was simply opening the door (again) due to the Pope´s visit. Much like his brother did a decade earlier. The door snapped shut about 1 year after the Pope had left in […]
Stephen Purvis (british) Amado Fakhre (british) Vahe "Cy" Tokmakjian (Canadian) Jean Louis Autret (French) Sarkis Yacoubian (Canadian) The above names are just a few of Cuba´s prominent investors from the 90´s who´s liberty, assets and future in Cuba has been taken away over the past 24 months. Some say it's not a […]
Behind the polished image of Cuba´s MINTUR (ministry of tourism) and their recent Autentica Cuba campaign lurks a sinister black market, or so we are told. Seldom do professionals from the travel industry in Cuba speak out and, less so when they are foreign travel professionals located on the island. Historically, fearful of […]
Tomorrow the Pope will once again speak in Cuba. For you non religious types, no, it's no longer Pope John Paul II, who blessed Cuba 14 years ago in 1998. This time, Pope Benedict once again takes the churches blessing back to an unchanged Cuba this week but, is this visit nothing more than […]
For an economy increasingly reliant on tourism as its only real source of income, numbers leaked this week from MINTUR (Cuba´s tourism ministry) do not bode well for the winter season. Consumers in Cuba´s single largest market, Canada, appear to have learnt from Cuba´s "panicked "price slashing of late October 2010 and are […]
