Operator sees surge of interest in Cuba following USA announcement
Western & Oriental, the luxury tour operator which offers a comprehensive Cuba travel programme, has experienced an unprecedented surge of interest in Cuba travel enquiries following the USA’s announcement yesterday to relax regulations, making it much easy for US citizens to visit the island.
“We have all been gearing up for a very busy year for Cuba, but the immediate spike of enquiries we have had in the last twelve hours following President Obama’s announcement really has been incredible, maybe we could call it Fidel Friday!” said David Pointer, Head of Product for Western & Oriental.
“February and March is already fairly full for Havana due to the lack of bed stock, so when demand increases from the USA this will become a bigger problem and I am sure we will see prices increase- which is why people are keen to firm up their holidays now,” continued Pointer.
“There are a number of new hotel developments happening in Havana at the moment, but this will only take the pressure of the current demand. Once the USA rules are relaxed further and there are no travel restrictions in place for US residents, the capacity issue will just get worse,” he added.
Just based on January 2015, the operator’s bookings are already up 150% year on year, but this increase in interest has been growing since last year and before this recent announcement and the recent spike.
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