Agents on the Spot: Cuba

Agents on the Spot: Cuba

In May this year, Tradewinds took a group of eight Going Places agents on an educational to Cuba. They spent time in Havana and several nights at Sandals’ new Beaches resort in Varadero. They specifically visited areas criticised by the Watchdog programme in recent editions, toured hotels and visited cigar and rum making factories. We asked three agents for their impressions before and after the trip.

Before: I had never been to Cuba before and when I said I was going most people said: ‘Why would you want to go there?’. Cuba’s had a lot of bad publicity and if you believed it all you would think the whole place would fall down around you, that there would be no water in the pool or coming out of the tap and an oil refinery on your beach. I hadn’t sold many holidays to Cuba because without any personal knowledge of the destination it was hard to overcome the apprehensions clients had – they generally preferred to believe Watchdog than the brochures I had to show them. I was interested to go and to see what it was like for myself.

After: I really think the criticisms of Cuba have been blown completely out of proportion and having been I am entirely happy to recommend it to my clients. The tourism industry there is relatively new and there is development going on, but once you are in your hotel none of this is a problem at all. Varadero beach was much better than I had imagined and, although I haven’t been to the Caribbean, I am sure Cuba’s beaches are just as good. I had one client who really wanted to cancel after watching Watchdog – I persuaded her to go and when she came back she said it was the best holiday she had ever had and that she would never watch Watchdog again. There is poverty there, but there is also a great mix of good beaches and interesting excursions.

Before: I hadn’t been to Cuba before and I didn’t really have any strong preconceptions about what it would be like. Although the brochured product looked very good, Cuba was a hard destination to sell because people saw it was very reasonably priced and were suspicious about that. They were apprehensive about the quality of the accommodation and about just what they would get. Obviously, the difficult relations between Cuba and the US have held the country back – I knew it had had problems trying to develop, but in recent years there has been growing interest in Cuba as a holiday destination so I was keen to explore its potential.

After: I am very impressed with the fantastic mix of beach and cultural attractions Cuba has to offer. The beaches are superb for a relaxed stay-put holiday – with a fabulous range of watersports and excellent accommodation at a very good price. Havana is something of a culture shock – parts of it are still very run down and poor – but it is historically very interesting and a lot of the older style buildings are well preserved. There is an excellent range of accommodation from three to five-star and those featured by Tradewinds you just couldn’t fault – I am especially recommending the Riu Group which stood out as excellent quality and with a great atmosphere. There is still some work to be done on the infrastructure, but I think Cuba will show it has huge potential.

Before: All I really knew about Cuba was what I had read in the brochures and bits I had gleaned from a colleague who had been. I knew the beaches were very good, but of course I had heard the horror stories about an oil refinery beside the hotel and about the building work going on to develop the Varadero resort area. I had seen documentaries about Havana and how backward it was in comparison to other Caribbean nations, but I was interested to see how the UNESCO tourism grants were helping to improve things. I expected the accommodation to be on a par with the Dominican Republic or any other newly emerging tourism destination.

After: Cuba is surprisingly green and unspoilt – the interior is really lush and tropical with a lot of rugged landscapes which are incredibly pretty. I deliberately sought out the problem areas that had been quoted on Watchdog and can really reassure my clients now that they are all overstated. There is development going on – as there is in many holiday destinations – but it does not affect the quality of the amenities and the hotels which are really excellent. Havana is certainly poor, but you can already see that the grants are being used to renovate and revitalise the place and in a few years it will be absolutely stunning – as well as historically fascinating. I love a beach holiday with plenty of watersports and for me Cuba is perfect – I would certainly pay to go back.