Globus Reinstates Cuba Tours Program

Globus put a new Cuba program up for sale, with two itineraries, a nine-day Undiscovered Cuba and a nine-day Cuba’s Charming Colonial Cities and Havana. Globus first offered a program to Cuba in summer of 2011, notifying the market that it would begin taking bookings in August for a tour planned for 2012. Globus partnered with the Center for Caribbean Religion and Culture to create its eight-day Cuba: A Spiritual, Historical and Cultural Journey.

But the process involved in providing the programs legally within the structure of the US trade embargo, in place since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1963, proved to be more difficult than the tour operator had originally thought, and Globus was forced to withdraw its program from the market.

After its arrangement with the Center for Caribbean Religion and Culture proved to be inadequate to surmount the regulations, Globus set out to acquire its own license. That also turned out to be more difficult than expected. But the incendiary demand for travel to Cuba proved to be a great motivation and Globus kept at it. Now Globus has its own license to operate limited travel to Cuba.

 “We’re thrilled to be among an elite group of tour companies granted a license by the US Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, which allows us to offer small group, people-to-people educational exchange programs to Cuba,” said Scott Nisbet, chief executive officer for the Globus family of brands.  “We have put together two culturally interesting and diverse programs that give our travelers the rare opportunity to engage in meaningful and insightful discussions with the Cuban people.”

The people-to-people program fits perfectly with trends in the marketplace of travelers wanting cultural immersion, authentic experiences characteristic of the destination and encounters with local residents. Globus’ Cuba programs will include people-to-people activities such as a visit to a tobacco farm and the family who owns it; an evening of jazz at La Zorra y el Cuervo Jazz Club and a personal meeting with the musicians; dinner at a family-owned paladar and a visit with the owner and staff; a meeting with children and the supervising nuns at a daycare center; and a visit to a ranch and a meeting with the cowboys who live there.

Undiscovered Cuba spends a week in Havana, focusing on history, culture, architecture and commerce. Cuba’s Charming Colonial Cities and Havana cuts across the Cuban landscape with visits to Camagüey, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Playa Girón (Bay of Pigs) and Havana. The price of the program starts at $2,974 land-only. Air travel at the destination starts at $496.

Source: Travel Pulse, http://www.travelpulse.com/globus-reinstates-cuba-tours-program.html