Havana could see cruise arrivals triple as Cuba’s tourism boom continues – Via The Telegraph

The number of Cuba itineraries and Caribbean cruises with port calls at Havana (on the Atlantic coast), Cienfuegos and former capital Santiago de Cuba (both on the Caribbean coast) has soared in the last two years. 

Between them major cruise lines offer more than 650 sailings. Now, Cuba has signed an agreement with the world’s largest independent cruise port operator to ramp up capacity at the cruise terminal in Havana.

The port, on the edge of Unesco-protected Old Havana, will triple its cruise ship berths from two to six by 2024, after an agreement with Istanbul-based Global Ports Holding. “Cuba has been a tremendous success for Norwegian,” said a spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Line. “Havana is a fabulous destination and guest feedback has been tremendously positive.”

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Havana Cruise Terminal to Triple in Size as Cuba Chases Tourists – Via www.bloomberg.com

Havana’s cruise-ship terminal will be able to handle three times as many vessels by 2024 as communist Cuba upgrades its tourist infrastructure to accommodate a surge in U.S. visitors.

The dock at the heart of the capital will get an extra four berths, allowing it to handle six ships at one time, as part of a 15-year management agreement with Istanbul-based Global Ports Holding Plc.

After initially fretting over President Donald Trump’s push-back against the easing of travel restrictions by Barack Obama, the cruising industry has found that new rules banning visits to government hotels and restaurants favor its business model of providing food and lodging on board.

Havana is attractive for its colonial-era architecture, music scene and local hospitality, Chief Executive Officer Emre Sayin said in an interview Wednesday. The city attracted about 328,000 cruise passengers last year, up 156 percent from 2016, and is targeting a tally of 500,000 in 2018. The Caribbean cruise market, the world’s biggest, totals about 9.6 million customers.

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Historic 1st cruise from Port Canaveral to Cuba to set sail – Via mynews13

Related:

• 4-Day Cuba (Overnight) & Key West from Orlando (Port Canaveral)
• Cruises to Cuba

• U.S. Victory Cruise Lines Arrives in Havana

The Norwegian Sun arrived early Monday morning at the newly remodeled Cruise Terminal 10 in Port Canaveral. 

Traveling to the Caribbean island became possible in 2015 after then-President Barack Obama announced the U.S. would normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba in what is now known as the “Cuba thaw.”

That move ended a 54-year stretch of isolation and hostility between the two countries.

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Started #Fitcuba2018

New Luxury Hotel to Decorate #Havana forbidden for Americans …

Related: U.S. Bans Americans From Staying In More Than 80 Cuban Hotels

The Packard Hotel is in phase of completion, to become the second of its kind for the city, after the Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski Havana opened last year, the Cuban News Agency reported.

This facility will have five star plus Cuba category, when 192 of 321 rooms of the facility are already getting ready, located on Havana’s Paseo del Prado.

Daysi Malvares, development director of Almest Real Estate company, said that they are working on the completion of the bedrooms of three of the 10-story hotel, for its gradual reception by state Gaviota group, and Spanish chain Iberostar, in charge of its administration.

#FitCuba2018 / January to March 2018: Tourist arrivals to Cuba grow by 7% – Via Cubadebate

Tourism represents for Cuba the second source of income behind the sale of professional services abroad, which represents a contribution of 10% to gross domestic product (GDP) and the generation of half a million jobs.

#FitCuba2018

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Cuba maintains its commitment to welcome 5 million visitors in 2018 despite the devastating effects caused by Hurricane Irma as it passed through the country last September, according to the commercial director of the Ministry of Tourism (Mintur)

He advanced that in the next International Tourism Fair “FitCuba”, to be held from May 2 to 5 in Santa Maria Key and with the United Kingdom as a guest country, it is planned to “fine-tune” the contracting of operations for the winter 2018- 2019 and surpass the results of commercialization of tourist offers.

Carnival Cruise Line Adds 20 More Cruises to Cuba – Via Cruise Radio

Carnival Cruise Line has announced that they’ve added twenty new voyages to Cuba aboard Carnival Paradise from Tampa in 2019. The itineraries are in addition to the 17 recently announced Cuba cruises aboard Carnival Sensation from Miami next year.

The newly-added five-day cruises on Paradise will depart Tampa on Saturdays and feature a day-long or a full day and overnight in the Cuban capital of Havana, along with stops in Key West and Cozumel.

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Like Everything Else, Trump Wrecks Travel to Cuba, Too – Via The Root

By Angela Helm

If you’re like me, practically all of your friends, associates and even one rogue co-worker took a trip to Cuba in the last year (only one, however, bought this writer back a cigar, ahem). Without exception, all loved the island-nation filled with black people, salsa, and respite from life in the United States, rolled into a financially reasonable travel destination.

But those travel tales are starting to come fewer and farther between.

Naturally, the man with the big ass in the White House is to blame.

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#FitCuba2018 : Villa Clara Keys

From May 2 to 6, 2018 this space will be open, where professionals and visitors will enjoy the varied offers that characterize Cuba and this time Villa Clara, as a tourist destination in the central region of the country. A fair of a professional nature, where they will dedicate days to commercial and promotional exchange.

The keys of Villa Clara will be presented: Santa Maria, Ensenachos and Las Brujas, incredible islets of excellent beaches; an impressive natural environment and a first class infrastructure in terms of comfort and facilities; harmoniously inserted in nature.

To this spectacular destination, specialists and promoters of the leisure industry will also visit and appreciate in addition to the bounties of their keys, other cities in development: Caibarien, Remedios, Sagua la Grande and Santa Clara, which complement the offer of Cuban tourism.

On this occasion, it will be dedicated to the United Kingdom as the guest of honor and to the sun and beach modality as a product.

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