The Cuban Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR) approved a regulation for the activity of national travel agencies, which gives them primacy in a group of tourist activities and services on the island.
Resolution 132/2021, published in the extraordinary Gaceta Oficial 46, indicates that national travel agencies are the only ones authorized to carry out procedures such as the issuance, reception and service of tourists, the representation of foreign tour operators, and the design and marketing of tourist packages.
The regulation establishes that Cuban legal entities or individuals that market services “made up of groups, programs, circuits, excursions or other modalities, must do so through national travel agencies, with the exception of those authorized to do so directly,” according to the Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN) news agency.
The text also indicates that these agencies will be in charge of tourist guide hiring and servicing, the leasing and sale of airline capacities, the procedures for the extension of visas, and the selling of tourist cards.
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According to the regulation, which will come into effect next month, national travel agencies will also mediate in the sale of reservations and services in all types of accommodation, transportation, insurance policies, and non-hotel services.
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In the same way, they are the only ones authorized to sell phone cards, postcards, maps, and tourist guides, and they will be in charge of organizing the programs of international events and meetings that take place in Cuba, said the ACN in its report, according to which branches and representations of foreign travel agencies on the island must contract all services through national agencies, except accommodation capacities, which can be done directly.
The regulation indicates that to create an agency of this type requires the approval of the MINTUR, which will demand a description of the activity, the draft statutes, and the economic feasibility study, as part of the application.
The report, on the other hand, does not specify the nature of these agencies, if only the state agencies are considered or if agencies could be created as a cooperative or by private initiative.
So far, a group of activities for the non-state sector related to tourism is authorized, such as the rental of rooms and gastronomic and transportation services, but it is not clear if there will be new openings at least in the near future. This, despite the demands of professional sectors, such as tourist guides, to carry out their work autonomously, and the recent government measures to expand self-employment.
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OnCuba Staff
This was predicted but is counter to Cuban interests. The State Sector should focus on partnering with big foreign tour operators and allow small and medium Cuban enterprises to service individual travelers and small foreign travel agencies.
After Vietnam opened the travel sector to non-state providers, it expanded dramatically.
To understand the transformation, review these publications
https://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/1783/1/Ng08MPhil.pdf
http://gtg.webhost.uoradea.ro/PDF/GTG-3-2020/gtg.31332-555.pdf
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/asia-pacific/reimagining-tourism-how-vietnam-can-accelerate-travel-recovery#
This is a great post. I really appreciate the information.
Cuba’s freedom and sovereignty are precious, and worth protecting. As long as the US government continues its assault against Cuba, as demonstrated by 62 yrs of economic warfare, terrorist attacks, and the funding of subversive activities, I think the policy makes sense. Tourism is essential to the economic recovery of the Island, and is one of their most important sources of income. Currently, and historically, the US government’s intentions are clear; regime change. The needs of the Cuban people have been thwarted by POTUS and Congress for over a half century by the US’ continuing economic sanctions against it in the hope of destabilizing the government. Americans, kept in the dark about such actions by the corporate media black-out, read dishonest articles, written by journalists who toe the line, utilizing the accepted “spin” assigned to any article about Cuba. The corporate media ignores the consequences of the US policies on the Cuban families it affects, ignoring the brutality of the hunger it causes, with the billions of dollars the Cuban government has lost, black-outs due to fuel shortages, and the deaths attributed to a lack of oxygen/ventilators which have just enough US parts too be inaccessible to the Cuban’s healthcare system, along with necessary raw materials for their vaccine production, or syringes to administer them, heightened during a pandemic. Americans have no idea what the government is doing in their name, or what the costs and consequences have been to the Cuban people. With continued assaults, the Cubans must protect themselves at all times, during this one-sided war. This can be labeled as “repression,” or more accurately as Cuba’s right to defend itself from foreign aggression and intervention. If the US ends the blockade and “regime change” subversion, and allows free travel rights for US citizens, then the Cuban tourism industry will greatly expand and incorporate many self-employed Cubans. Vietnam is not being blockaded or under economic siege by the US now, so to compare Cuba’s situation with Vietnams is bogus.
Communism is slavery – not sure why you are blaming other people. Communism produces nothing.