Havana, Cuba’s capital
CUBA made its debut at the Beijing International Travel Expo last week, in light of Air China’s thrice-weekly Beijing-Montreal-Havana flight launched last December.
Culture and tourism attaché from the Embassy of Cuba, Osvaldo Ruiz Crego, said: “Cuba is a new destination for Chinese and instead of beaches, we have a long history and a lot to offer. Visitors can go to the local theatre and enjoy performances like ballet, music and dancing.”
Previously, Chinese travellers who were heading to Cuba had to transit in Europe and Canada, requiring them to spend over 20 hours travelling. The journey has now been shortened to about 14 hours, which includes a two-hour Montreal stopover for a change of air crew and cleaning of the plane.
“With this new air connection, we are working with travel agents in Beijing to open up the market,” added Crego.
He also mentioned that the country doesn’t have a dedicated tourism office in China yet, and there are no plans for one as of now.
Meanwhile, some are cautious about travel to the Caribbean island nation.
Tuniu.com’s tourism product specialist, LuLu Zhao, said she was concerned about security and felt it was a dangerous place to visit.
General manager of BTG Ticketing, Xin Gang, shared similar thoughts and said: “People have little knowledge about Cuba and I hardly saw any promotion (of the country prior to this flight connection). Frankly, there isn’t any selling point and political stability is an issue.”
Alternatively, Xin added: “While the new flight may help, it’s vital to organise fam trips in order to educate agents and media what type of itineraries Cuba can offer. Moreover, as Chinese prefer to visit multiple destinations, I am also interested to know the possibilities of creating a combined itinerary with its neighbouring countries.”
