Traveling to Cuba is much easier when you’re part of a tour.
The reasons are many but the simplest answer is that Cuba’s relative isolation and historical preference for all-inclusive resorts means getting exposure to the island’s many wonders is best achieved under the guidance of a tour company/guide with years of experience.
Suzanne Carlson’s Carlson Maritime Travel has been operating in Cuba since 2011 when it first became legal for U.S. companies to operate there.
Unsatisfied with just meeting U.S. rules for travel to Cuba, Suzanne licensed with Cuba’s Havanatur/Celimar – one of the few Cuban government-owned travel agencies authorized to do business with U.S. travel companies – as a way to secure access to the best experience for her customers.
To ensure superior quality for every tour, Suzanne travels regularly to meet with hoteliers, taste-test new paladares (restaurants) and explore opportunities for new venues and activities that are compliant with U.S. travel restrictions but are also the best offerings. The venues, guides and drivers for her Cuba tours are hand-picked, and each tour is escorted entirely by herself personally or by one of her company’s professional tour guide specializing in Cuba.
Judging by her clients, there’s proof she knows how to get things done in Cuba. A sample includes: NGO/DPI-New York, Southern Newspaper Publishers Association-Atlanta, The Museum of Fine Arts – St. Petersburg, Greenwich Art Society – Greenwich, CT, Farleigh Dickinson University-New Jersey, California Repercussions Band – California, The Dali Museum, St. Petersburg, The Henry B. Plant Museum – Tampa and the USF International Art Department.
Tours can be customized around the group’s interests like art or architecture, and there are tours designed to gain geographic exposure to the island’s pristine coastal and inland regions that are otherwise hard to get to. Suzanne can accommodate small and large groups.
When she’s not busy organizing and leading tours to Cuba, Suzanne focuses on expanding her thought leadership on all matters Cuban. She has participated in Cuba panels including “What the U.S. Legal and Business Communities Need to Know” organized by the law firm of Gray Robinson, and the Florida Bar International Law Section, “Cuba Trade and Travel: Opportunities and Realities” organized by U.S. Representative Kathy Castor and Secretary Penny Pritzker, and the St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs “Mending Bridges with Cuba and Venezuela.”
