Specialist offers Cuba alone
IAN STALKER
Cuba specialist Hola Sun says it’s bringing unequaled knowledge of the Latin country to the Canadian market.
Hola Sun sales manager Hugo Rocha says offering Cuba alone means its staff is more familiar with the country than its competitors are.
“We specialize in Cuba. We know it,” he said during a recent Hola Sun event in Mississauga, Ont., that had both product updates and Cuban musicians and dancers perform. “We focus on one destination and that’s why we know it better. Most of the staff now have been to Cuba many times. We have the best training when it comes to Cuba.”
Hola Sun offers vacations throughout Cuba, rather than just a smallish number of major tourism centres.
The tour operator, in business for over 30 years, offers some 190 hotels on the island.
The evening also saw several hoteliers with a Cuban presence update agents on hand on what their companies offer, among them Marti Aragones of Melia Cuba, who reported that this fall will see the opening of the Sol Turquesa Beach in Holguin. That will raise the number of hotels Melia has in Cuba to some 33.
Melia also recently opened one of its INNSiDE properties in Old Havana, with Aragones praising the boutique hotel’s “amazing” location.
“Canadians want beaches,” Aragones continued. “But I think Havana has a lot to offer. Havana is an incredible city.”
He also thanked travel agents who send clients to Melia Cuba hotels, saying “we are where we are because of you.”
Meanwhile, Mariela Zaldivar of Iberostar Hotels & Resorts said that company has hotels in six Cuban destinations and those who stay at one of its properties will find a Cuban ambiance.
“At Iberostar, everything is about the experience,” she added.
For photos from the event click here.
