Today, Meliá Hotels announced an important expansion plan in Cuba. The Spanish hotel company’s plans include new hotels in three regional cities with historic significance and colonial origins. Trinidad and Camagüey (two of the first seven villages built in Cuba between 1511 and 1515) and the French, neoclassical city of Cienfuegos, the Pearl of the … Read more
It was a typical Spring Miami day when on April 17th, 2016 I boarded the 704-passenger vessel, MV Adonia, for a lunch gathering with a select group of people responsible for the creation of the Fathom brand and the re-purposing of a small ship with a big concept, to yoke industry behemoth, Carnival Corporation, into … Read more
The inaugural SAHIC Cuba conference, to be held this May 15-16, 2017 in Havana, Cuba, adds two keynote speakers for this first-of-its-kind conference. They are David Scowsill, President & CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council, and renown Cuban historian Mr. Eusebio Leal. Hotels, resorts or related real estate developments, including shared ownership, recreational … Read more
Yesterday, St Giles Hotels announced its expansion into Cuba, positioning the company as the first UK-based hotel brand to enter the Cuban hotel market. Gran Caribe, one of Cuba’s leading hotel groups, accepted St Giles’ bid to renovate and manage the Hotel Deauville, located in the heart of Havana. Abigail Tan-Giroud, St Giles Hotels Head of UK, Europe, and The … Read more
By some estimates, when Cuba transitions to a market oriented economy and resolves its various disputes with the U.S., the island nation will require more than $50 billion of investment to modernize its economy. Recent improvements in U.S.-Cuba relations have opened up some avenues of economic cooperation in terms of both trade and investment, but … Read more
In the past year, it’s been hard to miss glimpses of charming Old Havana streets and her majestic skyline appear as a colorful backdrop for numerous high profile feature film, TV and concert events. With the détente between the U.S. and Cuba, American production companies and event planners have rushed in to seize on Cuba’s … Read more
As of March 2017, there were reports emanating from the Cuban government that premium gasoline would be rationed in the coming months. According to official Cuban data, the island nation’s economy fell 0.9% in 2016 despite significant increases in the travel and tourism sector. (Readers should note that the Cuban government tracks and publishes very … Read more
In September 2016, Albert A. Fox Jr faced a $100,000 fine from U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for alleged violations of the U.S. embargo against Cuba during two trips to the island over recent years. This January, the government settled the case against the pro-Cuba/anti-embargo Fox for $10,000. el Nuevo Herald, … Read more
Buried deep in the bowels of the U.S. legislation against Cuba (collectively referred to as the “embargo”), there is a tiny line item that restricts Western development finance institutions from doing business in Cuba. Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Libertad) Act of 1996 – also known as the Helms-Burton Act – Sec. 104. “United States … Read more
According to a report published this week by advertising and public relations giant WPP, Cuba will take at least four to five years before it emerges as a significant consumer market for brands seeking exposure to the island nation’s once (and still – to some degree) forbidden population. While Cuba’s brand landscape is highly appealing … Read more
