Year XI • Issue 200 • March 2011 • Europe Edition • www.traveltradecaribbean.com • ISSN 1724 - 5370

International Tourism Publication founded in 1996

Poste italiane Spa - Sped. in Abb. Post. D.L. 353/2003 Conv. in L. 27/02/2004, no. 46 Art. 1 comma 1, DCB Milano - Prezzo per copia EURO 0,25

Caribbean Festival Dedicated to Trinidad and TobagoSet for next July 3-9, the 31st Ca-ribbean Festival, also called Fire Fiesta, to be held in Santiago de Cuba, will be dedicated to Trini-dad and Tobago. ........................ 2The 31st International Tourism Fair of Cu-

ba will take place May 2-7, 2011 at Havana’s Morro Cabaña Park. FITCuba 2011 will be dedicated to Mexico as the country guest of honor; to City of Havana as a center of attrac-tions; and to the multidestination product. De-signed for professionals of the tourist sector and transportation, its travel agency will be Cubatur and its official transportation com-panies will be Transtur and Cubana Airlines.

Cuban Travel Agencies. TTC sets aside a special space to review Cuban travel agen-cies on pages 14, 15, 16 and 18: interviews with the presidents of Cubatur and San Cris-tóbal and biographical sketches of Havantur,

Principal Caribbean Tourism Investment Conference

Conviasa Begins Operations to Cuba and Plans to Expand in RegionVenezuela’s Conviasa state-run airline began operations to Cu-ba with six weekly flights, and announced its upcoming expan-sion to Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominican Republic, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Peru and Ecuador.................................................... 4

Gaviota Tours and Viajes Cubanacán, as well as of the Paradiso, Cubadeportes and Amistur agencies, specializing in cultural, sports and sociopolitical tourism, respec-tively.

The principal Caribbean tourism investment conference will be held May 10-12 in Mon-tego Bay, Jamaica, convened by the Caribbe-an Hotel & Tourism Association. .................4

Underwater Photography Meeting 2

New Year Opens With German Market’s Growth for Cuba 4

Towards French Market’s Takeoff in Cuba 6

Our Next Editions & Photography Contest Rules 22

FITCuba 2011The City of Havana seen from the Morro-Cabaña Park.

travel trade caribbean • year XI • issue 2002

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Sponso-red by the Casa del Caribe, in coordination with the Paradiso Travel Agency and the Cuban Ministry of Culture, the event will feature representative ex-pressions of the popular fiestas of that English-speaking Carib-bean country, which range from the steel band, carnival dances, street dance groups and congas, to different musical interpreta-tions of their rhythms, especially

the calypso. The varied program includes specialized colloqui-ums, visual art exhibitions, magi-cal-religious ceremonies, theatre,

parades and meetings of bearer groups.

Trinidad and Tobago Ambas-sador to Cuba Jennifer Jones Ker-nahan considered it opportune that the next Fire Fiesta will coincide with the year dedicated to Afro de-scendants and the Cuba-CARICOM Summit, which will be held in Trini-dad and Tobago in December 2011. She predicted a large representation of artists and intellectuals from Trin-idad and Tobago at the Festival. ■

WHEn THE STRIP OF SEA BETWEEn the Corrientes and San Antonio capes was declared in 2001, in the Guanahacabibes national Park, as a Protected Marine Area, part of it was dedi-cated to recreational scuba diving, in some 50 points and 20 km of marine shelf.

In this marvelous place is located the María la Gorda International Scuba Diving Cen-ter (CIB), an ideal spot for diving because of its caves, caverns and tunnels. And this is the scenario for the First Underwater Photography Meeting, IMASUB 2011, in which underwater photographers from all over the world can par-ticipate, with the only requirement of meeting the event’s regulations.

This shelf is extremely narrow, which is why it ends not far from the coast and its limit depth ranges from 200 to 1,000 m. Its seabed features clear contrasts for underwater photography since the transparency of the water allows for a visibility of up to 30 m of longitudinal distance

in depths of 25 and 30 m, where the temperature is some 20 degrees Celsius from December to February and 30 degrees in August.

The categories in competition are Environ-ment, Macro and Environment with Model. Ten prizes will be awarded: three first prizes by cat-egory and a Grand Prize for the most integral and creative photographer.

Entries are valid up to 30 days before the start of the meeting. Interested persons should be certified as divers by RSTC member organi-zations and have an updated record of medical competence. ■

COnTACTsGaviota Tours SA Travel Agency, Specialized Tourism: tur_esp1@gaviotatours.cu

tur_esp2@gaviotatours.cu

CIB Gaviota María la Gorda:comercial@gaviotatours.cu

Emirates Airlines Wants to Fly to Dominican RepublicTHE MAJOR United Arab Emirates airline company wants its airplanes to fly to the Dominican Republic in order to boost its presence in Latin America, listin.com.do reports. The Arab country, which owns one of the world’s major airlines, has officially stated as much to the Dominican Govern-ment.UAE Civil Aviation director Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi and Dominican par José Tomás Pérez, in an official visit to Dubai, re-viewed the 2009 open sky agreement signed by both countries in Turkey.

The agreement would allow Emirates Airlines to also use the Dominican Republic as a new point of operations. The carrier flies to 120 countries, Bra-zil among them, and the only destination in Latin America. The agreement is pending approval in the Dominican Congress and is one of several between both countries since presi-dent Leonel Fernéndez’s official visit to Dubai last year. ■

María la Gorda IMASUB Underwater Photography Meeting

Caribbean Festival Dedicated to Trinidad and TobagoContinued from front page –

travel trade caribbean • year XI • issue 2004

AT THE CLOSE OF 2010, there were more than 93,000 German tourist arrivals to Cuba, similar to the figure for 2009. According to preliminary data, at the close of the first half of February 2011, the arrival of Germans to the island registered an increase of 7% and 3% as compared to the same period in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

The aforementioned is a sign of the recov-ery of the German market for the Cuba desti-nation, as a result of the effects of the actions carried out by the Ministry of Tourism and the Cuban tourist entities in the market, which has stimulated the demand for the destination.

A show of this has been the increased air capacity for the current winter season, com-pared to the previous one, to destinations like Havana and Holguín, which, together with Varadero, are the best known and sold by German tour operators.

New Year Opens With German Market’s Growth for Cuba

Naranjo Bay National Park. Holguín is one of the des-

tinations preferred by German visitors.

We won’t lower our guard because of these results, on the contrary; we must con-tinue offering variety and quality in the tour-ist products we promote in the market and be increasingly more faithful to the current Cuba destination publicity campaign: authenticity, diversity, but very linked to quality and pro-fessionalism.

As usual, Cuba is present this year in the ITB BERLIn Fair –in its 45th edition–, on this occasion with the images of a new Authentic Cuba campaign, an opportunity we will take advantage of to promote and market new products and to have closer marketing relations with the market’s prin-cipal tour operators, travel agencies and airlines.

We predict a good 2011 for tourism in our country and we will work so that the German market makes a positive contribution. ■

■ Marisabel Gonzlez Hernndez Director Cuban Ministry of Tourism Office in Germany

This edi-tion will attract more participants due to the record 23.1 million vis-itors registered in 2010 –a 4.2% increase compared to 2009-, ac-cording to forecasts by the Carib-bean Tourism Organization.

The organizers also expect a greater assistance because of the boom registered by the tourist in-dustry in the region, which has increased its rooms by 28%.

Principal Caribbean Tourism Investment Conference

Conviasa Begins Operations to Cuba and Plans to Expand in Region

Almost 400 delegates from more than 23 Caribbean coun-tries, the United States and the United Kingdom participate ev-ery year in this marketplace. The participants’ profile covers a wide gamut of architects, law-yers, designers, creditors, real estate companies, financial ad-visors, hotel chain CEOs, and government and tourism offi-cials. ■

Continued from front page –

Tourists enjoy rafting in Jamaica.

“In March we will begin operations to Colombia (Bogotá) and Trinidad and Tobago (Port of Spain); in April we will fly to the Do-minican Republic (Santo Domingo), Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Dominica; while in May we will do so to Peru (Li-ma) and Ecuador (Quito),” said Eduardo Legaspi, exe cutive vice president of the airline, founded in 2004 and based in Maiquetía’s Simón Bolívar International Airport. ■

Venezuela’s flagship airline advanced it will offer a promotion rate on the Caracas-Havana-Caracas route, daily except for Saturdays, on a Boeing 737 with capacity for 120 passengers.

Continued from front page –

boom registered by the tourist industry in the region, which has increased its rooms by 28%.

visors, hotel chain CEOs, and government and tourism offi-cials. ■

Conviasa Begins Operations Conviasa Begins Operations to Cuba and Plans to Expand to Cuba and Plans to Expand

Tourists enjoy rafting in Jamaica.

“In March we will begin operations to Colombia (Bogotá) and “In March we will begin operations to Colombia (Bogotá) and

TROPICAnA, A LIVInG leg-end among the world’s most fa-mous cabarets, saw the light on December 31, 1939. Its stages are proud to have been witness to the most famous in the show world and Cuban popular music for more than seven decades. Musi-cal revues that since the 1950s re-affirm it as the most dazzling Ha-vana nightspot.

Distinguished with the Best of the Best Five Star Diamond prize by the north American Academy of the Restaurant Industry, today it comprises two salons, a restau-rant and a café.

sAlOn UnDER ThE sTARsAn exuberant garden under

Cuba’s starlit nights where guests enjoy the grand “Tambores en Concierto” show, which recre-ates the fusion of the Spanish and African legacy in the exhibition of its immediate derivatives like the rumba, the danzonete and the mambo, as well as the most con-temporary Latin jazz. All this through a tantalizing viewpoint, where audacious choreographies are seconded by the realism and wealth that the set design and wardrobe propose for the sake of achieving a sumptuous and im-pacting production.

sAlOn ARCOs DE CRisTAlThis salon is a reproduc-

tion of the Cuban countryside; the example of the best architec-ture of the 1950s, representative of the aesthetic significance of tropical nature – winner of the Gold Medal Prize of the nation-al School of Architects in 1953. This very comfortable salon is ideal for fashion shows, concerts and dances.

lOs JARDinEs REsTAURAnTThe strains of the violin and

the piano, the exquisite attention and the delicious flavor of nation-

TropicanaMore than“A Paradise under the Stars”

al and international haute cuisine await you in the place where the Tropicana Casino originally stood.

RODnEy CAFéWith an atmosphere, archi-

tecture and gastronomy of national and internation-al cuisine, inspired by the 1950s, it is Tropi-cana’s bohemian spot par excellence. It of-fers music sessions in a climate of special in-timacy. ■

sChEDUlEsSalons Under The Stars and Arcos de Cristal

from 8:30 p.m. until dawn

Los Jardines Restaurantfrom 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Rodney Caféfrom 12:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.

Calle 72 y Líneadel Ferrocarril, MarianaoLa HabanaTel.: (53 7) 267 0110

(53 7) 267 1717 (53 7) 267 1719

Web: cabaret-tropicana.com

isTAlThis salon is a reproduc-

tion of the Cuban countryside; the example of the best architec-ture of the 1950s, representative of the aesthetic significance of tropical nature – winner of the Gold Medal Prize of the nation-al School of Architects in 1953. This very comfortable salon is ideal for fashion shows, concerts

TAURAnTThe strains of the violin and

the piano, the exquisite attention and the delicious flavor of nation-

under the Stars”

al and international haute cuisine await you in the place where the Tropicana Casino originally stood.

RODnEy CAFéWith an atmosphere, archi-

tecture and gastronomy of national and internation-al cuisine, inspired by the 1950s, it is Tropi-cana’s bohemian spot par excellence. It of-par excellence. It of-par excellence. It offers music sessions in a climate of special in-timacy. ■

Under The Stars and Arcos de Cristalfrom 8:30 p.m. until dawn

Los Jardines Restaurantfrom 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

from 12:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.

del Ferrocarril, Marianao

Web: cabaret-tropicana.comreservas@tropicana.palmares.cu

travel trade caribbean • year XI • issue 2006

Gilberto, what actions are being carried out to increase French tourist arrivals to Cuba?

The Ministry and its Office in France continue promoting the attractions of the des-tination through the Authentic Cuba cam-paign. The Office participated in the Work-shop Meetings with the Press of ADOnET, an organization comprising the majority of the foreign tourism offices in France, where we spoke with some 150 journalists about the wealth and diversity of our offer and the prin-cipal events to be held in 2011.

Cuba is present in the MAP World Tour-ism Fair with a 45 m2 stand; and we are or-ganizing the Authentic Cuba Round, from March 17 to 25, which will take the Cuban delegation, on board a bus decorated with images of the campaign, to six of the prin-cipal French cities (Paris, Bordeaux, Tou-louse, Marseille, Lyon and Strasbourg) to organize workshops with the network of re-gional travel agents and agencies that sell the destination, notify them of the novelties

and set up actions with a view to the summer and winter.

Starting May, until the end of the year, important promotion actions of the Authentic Cuba campaign are previewed for TV, public-ity billboards and the Internet.

What are the forecasts for the 2011-2012 season?

Since September 2010 until today, there has been a recovery in the emission of French tourists with a continuous growth. Undoubt-edly, the 2010-2011 winter will be better than the previous one, given that since Decem-ber 2 to February 12, according to prelimi-nary figures, a 10.8% growth was registered, a tendency that will continue until the close of April, according to the principal tour opera-

tors, in keeping with the performance of their sales. now the idea is to guarantee a superi-or summer and winter that mark the market’s takeoff, and we are working towards those objectives.

Air connections between France and Cuba?In winter there are two Cubana Airlines

weekly flights, on Sundays and Thursdays, and nine Air France weekly flights, one a day plus two extra ones on Fridays and Sundays. In addition, a weekly flight by the XL Air Ways to Varadero, shared with Bahamas, is operat-ing since December 15 to the end of April.

Tour operators that contribute the most in the operation

Havanatour Paris, Vacances Transat France and nouvelles Frontières.

What is Cuba presenting at MAP 2011?This edition’s principal theme is fies-

tas and festivals. Cuba will present its tour-ist products, novelties and traditional fiestas. The fair will also serve as the framework for promoting the main events of 2011. ■

Towards French Market’s Takeoff in Cuba

Interview with Gilberto López Bre­to, Cuban Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR) Office in France director.

THE InTERnATIOnAL Tour-ism Expo will be held next Sep-tember 22 and 23 in the Atlapa Convention Center, Panama. Or-ganized by the local Chambers of Tourism and Commerce, it is expected to surpass the previous attendance, with the participa-tion of some 200 wholesale buy-

Tourism Expo in Panamaers from the Americas, Asia and Europe.

Salomón Shamah, president of the Pana ma Tourism Authority, said that this entity will display in its pa-vilion the different pro ducts the isthmus has to offer and will present the chambers of the interior of the nation and their handicraft offers. ■

Panama will display its handicraft tra-

dition throughout the Expo.

VillA CUBA REsORT ****It is privileged because of

its centrally located position be-tween the traditional and modern Varadero, close to the Golf Club and to the shoreline of the best beach area.

Made up by a hotel, houses and a module, it has 365 rooms –261 doubles, 4 suites, 7 mini suites, 5 duplex, 88 king size– with AC, private bathroom, tele-phone, satellite TV, safety-de-posit box, hairdryer, minibar, balcony, view to the garden or to the sea. Two rooms with facilities for the handicapped.

Other facilities: Four restau-rants, four bars, swimming pool for children and adults, sauna, massages, shops, beauty parlor, laundry, medical services , tour-ism desk, Internet, money ex-change, wedding legal service, conference room, car rental and taxis. Thematic nights, dance les-sons, diving for beginners, games room, land and water sports.Carretera Las Américas, Repar-to La Torre, Varadero, MatanzasTel.: (53 45) 66 8280Fax: (53 45) 66 8282E-mail: reservas@vcuba.gca.tur.cu

Gran Caribe in Varadero

ClUB KAwAmA ****This hotel complex, with a

rich history and beautiful archi-tecture, faces one of the most tranquil beach strips, with a view to the Varadero canal.

Comprising houses and bunga-lows, it has 336 rooms –229 stan-dard and 107 superior– with AC, telephone, satellite TV, safety-de-posit box (additional cost) and pri-vate bathroom. Ideal for couples and families with children, the superior rooms also have a coffee maker and stocked minibar.

Other facilities: Four restau-rants, six bars, a discotheque, gym, sauna, three swimming pools (with area for children), beauty parlor, Internet, medical services, tourism desk, shops, car and motorbike rental. The Day Around service allows clients to enjoy the entire Resort’s offer.Primera Avenida y Calle 1, Varadero, MatanzasTel.: (53 45) 61 4416Fax: (53 45) 66 7334E-mail: reserva@kawama.gca.tur.cuWeb: www.kawamahotel.cu

PUnTAREnA hOTEl ****Located at the entrance to

Varadero, from where it stands this hotel offers an excellent pan-oramic view of the beach resort, as well as having a marvelous beach area.

255 rooms –101 double, 150 king size, 4 suites– with tele-phone, satellite TV, safety-depos-it box, hairdryer, minibar, AC, private bathroom, a view of the canal or the sea.

Other facilities: Three restau-rants, three bars, a discotheque, games room, diving and dance lessons, land and water sports, swimming pool for children and adults, sauna, medical ser vices, shops, art gallery, mini club, nanny service, money exchange, tourism desk, beauty parlor, laun-dry, wedding legal service, car rental and taxis.Ave. Kawama y Final, Varadero, MatanzasTel.: (53 45) 66 7125 – 29Fax: 66 7074 y 66 8391E-mail: reservas@puntarena.gca.tur.cu

VillA TORTUgA ***This hotel stands at the en-

trance to Varadero and very close to the center of the city, by the beach shoreline.

It comprises a hotel, hous-es and modules with 292 rooms –181 standard, 63 houses and 48 superior– with AC, telephone, satellite TV, safety-deposit box, private bathroom, balcony, view to the garden, to the sea or to the swimming pool.

Other facilities: Three restau-rants, four bars, thematic nights, games, land and water sports, dance lessons, diving for begin-ners, swimming pool for children and adults, massages, beauty par-lor, medical services, shops, tour-ism desk, money exchange, In-ternet, rental of motorbikes, cars and taxis.Calle 7 e/ Ave. Kawama y Playa, Varadero, MatanzasTel.: (53 45) 61 4747Fax: 53 45) 66 7485E-mail: reservas@villatortuga.tur.cu

The Gran Caribe Hotel Group guides you through Varadero, Cu-ba’s most famous beach and princi-pal sun and beach destination… 22

kilometers of unique beach with an extensive strip of white sand and a sea of warm and transparent wa-ters of intense green-blue hues.www.gran-caribe.cu

travel trade caribbean • year XI • issue 2008

Varadero-matanzas-Ciénaga de Zapata TriadThe diversity of attractions of Ma­tanzas province has allowed it to stand out in tourism. Headed by Varadero beach resort, the offer set up with the city of Matanzas and the Zapata Peninsula pro­vides a combined beach, nautical, city, nature and cultural product.OnE OF VARADERO’S GREAT challenges is harmonizing sun and beach tourism with other modalities. The marketing of a broad range of circuits is one of the formulas taken on that makes it possible to get to know, in ad-dition to local sites like the Josone Park, Cayo Blanco or the Varahicacos ecological reserve, others located in the same province. Excur-sions are organized from Varadero to Matan-zas –City Tour, Bellamar Caves and Jeep Sa-fari to the Yumurí-Río Canímar Valley (an option that includes rides on boats or motor-boats through the river, horseback riding and bull riding)– as well as visits to Guamá (Cié-naga de Zapata).

Famous for more than two centuries as the Athens of Cuba, given its cultural life, the city

of Matanzas treasures a rich heritage and has been the cradle of illustrious artists, as well as of the danzón, Cuba’s national dance, and the danzonete. Some of the places that dis-tinguish it as a cultural destination are: the Sauto Theater (currently undergoing a capital repair), the Ernesto Triolet French Pharmacy, the San Severino Castle, the Palmar de Junco

Stadium –where the first baseball game was played in Cuba–, Ermita de Monserrate, Pla-za de la Vigía and the Ediciones Vigía publi-shing house.

Classified as a Biosphere Reserve and Ramsar Site, the Península de Zapata nation-al Park, to the south of the province, is one of Cuba’s first nature, ecotourism, adventure

and diving destinations. A trip on yacht to the Laguna del Tesoro, which takes visitors to the Guamá Tourist Center; to the Taino Village, an exact replica of a Cuban indigenous settle-ment; and to the Crocodile Farm –with some 10,000 specimens–, completes the circuit.

Using as a source the national Office of Statistics, we see that Varadero concentrates the largest number of hotel rooms in Cuba, 18,123 (34% of the total) and 34,986 job posts, grouped in 54 hotels. The principal markets that visited Matanzas in 2009 (the latest available figures), were as follows: Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy and France. ■

Sauto Theater.

Guamá Tourist Center.

travel trade caribbean • year XI • issue 200 9issue 200

THE FIRST nATIOnAL marine park - the Man of War Shoal Ma-rine Park, opened in late Decem-ber, is the first step St. Maarten has taken towards preserving the area known as the Proselyte Reef, the island's most important underwater habitat, said Travel Daily news web publication.

Franklin Meyers, the Island Minister of Economic Affairs, Tourism, Transportation and Tele-

st. maarten Establishes First national marine Park

communications, said “the deve-lopment of the marine park has been long in the making and we are pleased to SXM Underwater 1 have begun the first and most cru-cial phase of the process. By crea-ting the marine park, St. Maarten is taking steps to preserve the local environment as well as enhancing sustainable tourism,” he added.

The Proselyte Reef includes the island's most important ma-

rine habitat consisting of coral reefs and sea grass beds as well as a large pop-ulation of aquatic mammals, including whales, dolphins, sharks, sea turtles and fish. The reef also acts as a mi-gratory stopover and breed-ing site for three IUCn Red List Species, 10 CITES Ap-pendix I species and 89 Ap-pendix II species. ■

TRInIDAD AnD TOBAGO’S MInISTER of Tourism Rupert Griffith announced that the twin-island nation will play host to an International Culinary Festival in Octo-ber. Griffith said that the festival will be a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Tourism and the Tourism Development Company (TDC) of Trinidad and Tobago. The festival, which is expected to draw top culinary talent from the Caribbean, UK and Europe, will include competitions, live dem-onstrations and cultural displays.

International Culinary Festival in Trinidad Tobago next October

Minister Griffith’s announcement comes on the heels of last year’s successful hosting of the Taste T&T Culinary Festival in September. Fo-cusing on education and community develop-ment, the Taste T&T Culinary Festival, a TDC and Ministry of Tourism initiative, comprised of two major elements - a two-day skills en-hancement workshop featuring international Master Chefs and targeting local chefs, com-munity cooks and culinary students, and a

nation-wide roving community food festival and cooking competition. ■

Two New Islazul Hotels in Varadero: Club Karey and Club TropicalTHE ISLAZUL HOTEL GROUP, present throughout the Cuban ar-chipelago, is diversifying its lodgment options in Varadero with the incorporation of two pleasant hotels: Club Tropical and Club Karey, which have all the comforts to guarantee its guests an agreeable stay. Islazul currently operates several installations in this beach resort, in

ClUB KAREyWith a beautiful view of the 1.5 km long Varadero Canal, the majority of its houses have direct access to the beach. It has 135 rooms with AC, satellite TV, telephone, safe-ty deposit box (additional cost) and refriger-ator; three restaurants, one main buffet and two a la carte, specializing in international and Italian cuisine, a snack bar, beach restau-rant, lobby bar and discotheque. It also has a gym, swimming pool for adults, massages, souvenir shop and boutiques, taxi service, post office, pharmacy, money exchange and Internet.

ClUB TROPiCAlLocated by the beach shore, in the center of the city of Varadero, it operates under the All-Inclusive modality. Its 143 rooms, with AC and different facilities, are distributed in three blocks of rooms (superior, standard and apartments). Its facilities include two restau-rants (international buffet and a la carte), lob-by bar, snack bar, beach bar, a swimming pool that includes an area for children, nighttime and day entertainment, children’s mini club, non-motorized nautical sports, gym, money exchange, Internet, excursion sales desk, tax-is, car and motorbike rental and crafts shop.

Islazul is becoming reasserted as one of the hotel chains with the widest coverage and di-versity throughout Cuba. To get details about these hotels and others of the Islazul Group visit the www.islazul.cu site.

which it ensures the best quality-price relationship in this beach desti-nation, hotels that operate as All Inclusive and others featuring other eating modalities. For those interested in Long Stays, the Islazul Hotel as well as the Mar del Sur Aparthotel have, in addition to their hotel rooms, one- and two-room apartments equipped for those travelers.

THE TURAL LIMITADA Travel Agen-cy, whose head office is located in San-tiago, Chile, was founded on August 24, 1995 and on December 16, 1999 it became a society of limited responsibility. A mem-ber of the IATA since its constitution, it is also a member of the Chilean Association of Tourism Companies A.G. (ACHET).

Winner in 1996 of the prize for the best Amadeus agency of the prod-uct in Chile, it is part of the JP Compa-nies Group, whose president is Mr. Jür-gen Paulmann. It has a representation in Havana, Cuba, which operates under the fantasy name CUBAMUnDO, ac-credited since 1996 through Gaviota Tours S.A., first, and since the last year Cubanacán Viajes. Its aim is the deve-lopment, promotion, marketing and pro-viding services for tourism, travel agen-cies and issuers, specialized adventure, ecotourism and diving tourism, nation-ally as well as internationally.

Its clients in Chile include ITT Water & Waste Water Chile S.A., Vag-Valves Chile S.A., Cencosud S.A., Alerce Andi-no Sociedad Comercial Ltda., Sumitomo Corporation Chile Ltda., Adelco Ltda. and many more, especially Chileans. It also actively markets its products via its agents and offices in Eastern Europe and Latin America.

One of the most tempting offers CUBAMUnDO has placed for the con-sideration of its clients, from its online site, is the package…

JUmBO CUBAFollowing are some of the variants of this

offer:

■ 2 nights In Havana + 4 nights In Varadero + Super Gift: Panoramic Tour Of The City, transportation included.

■ “An unforgettable city tour”Tour around Old Havana and Modern Ha-

vana; includes a visit to the Bocoy rum fac-tory and an incredible catamaran ride along part of Havana’s coast.

Varied offer of 16 combinations Starting at

Everything guaranteed with easy and safe payment directly from your credit card.

Jumbo Special Cayo CocoAn ideal combination to en-joy the charms of the city and the heavenly beauty of the keys to the north of Ciego de

Ávila; includes spectacular city tour with new and attractive options.

Jumbo Special Cayo Santa MaríaSpectacular vacation offer to enjoy with the family or in couples; includes a city tour,

enjoying Cayo Santa María, a blissful key to the north of Villa Clara with a beach of magnifi-cent green-blue waters and sand as fine as dust.

Jumbo Special Guardalavaca-HolguínGet to know Havana, its tra-ditions and customs, its peo-ple and its delicious food; en-

joy a special city tour, lodgment in the capital of all Cubans and in Guardalavaca, at Hol-guín’s Blau Costa Verde Hotel, a marvelous place with beautiful beaches.

Online Reservations: www.cubamundo.com

■ Immediate Confirmation

CubaMundo

27500 USD

travel trade caribbean • year XI • issue 200 11

C U B A

Main Tourist IndicatorsCUBA CLOSED 2010 WITH a total of 2,531,745 visitors (2,506,970 classified as tourists and 24,775 as excursionists), an absolute record figure of arrivals, which represented an increase of 4.2% as compared to 2009.

Last year Cuba’s principal tourist markets were, in the fol-lowing order, Canada, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Mexico, Argentina, Rus-sia, Holland, Venezuela, Colom-bia, Portugal, Chile, Switzerland, Peru, Brazil and Belgium.

Tourist entities’ total income amounted to 1,567,145,600 CUC (convertible pesos), which rep-resents a 3.8% increase as com-pared to the year before. Forty- one percent (641,747,000 CUC)

came from gastronomy, followed by lodgment, transportation, re-tail commerce and recreation.

Hotels registered 16,293,165 foreign tourist / days (99.2% with respect to 2009); the aver-age occupancy rate was 44.8%. Fifty-one percent of the visitors were men and 49% were wom-en. Thirty-nine percent of the tourists classified in the 25 to 44 age group and 29% between 45 and 59. ■Cuban tourist entities’ income, 2010. Tourist arrivals to Cuba from the principal markets, 2010.

travel trade caribbean • year XI • issue 20012

N U M I S M A T I C M U S E U M

The Largest Collection of Cuban

Coins

JUSTLY considered the second discover-er of Cuba for his nu-merous and in-depth studies, Alexander von Humboldt (Ber-lin 1769-1859), one of the last univer-sal savants, was the Father of Universal Modern Geography and the first to make science popular.

Alejandro de Hu m-boldt, thus known in Spanish, toured Cu-ba during two stays here between 1800 and 1804; he was the first to make a trust-worthy outline of the island and explored its flora, fauna and geographical location. He made a detailed analysis of Cuban society in the early 19th century, enriching it with nu-merous political, economic, social and scien-tific data.

Humboldt’s imprint in Cuba is remem-bered in many different ways. The Alejandro de Humboldt House-Museum of the Office of the City of Havana Historian especially shows events in the life of the erudite Ger-man, his scientific work and his relationship with Cuba in terms of nature and society. Lo-cated in an 18th century building, its five ex-hibition halls have a permanent display of en-gravings, books, scientific instruments and copies of original documents, duly ordered and identified.

Honoring with his name the Alejan-dro de Humboldt na-tional Park, one of the most important in the Caribbean, is a noble way of rec-ognizing the work of the Prussian savant in the study of na-ture. Located in the provinces of Holguín and Guantánamo, this 59,400 – hectare park is the core zone of the Cuchillas del Toa Biosphere Re-serve and is a World nature Heritage Si te – declared by UnES-

CO in 1987 and 2001, respectively.A major center of biodiversity in Cuba and

the largest remnant of mountainous ecosys-tems and best conserved rainforest in Cuba and the Caribbean islands, it has many values: the Cuban region with the largest amount of pre-cipitations and fluvial draining; habitat to 16 of the 28 vegetation formations defined for Cu-ba and to more than 150 locally endemic ones (the highest number of endemism, 70-80%, are reported); refuge to Cuban vertebrate species in danger of extinction, such as the almiquí (a primitive mammal considered a living fossil), the gavilán caguarero sparrow hawk and the three smallest species in the world – the but-terfly bat, the Alto de Iberia little frog, which measures less than 11 mm, and the bee hum-mingbird, of approximately 63 mm. ■

Alexander von Humboldt’s Imprint in Cuba

Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, one of the most important in the Caribbean.

Mexico Tourism Secretary Gloria Guevara said that further growth in the number of cruise arrivals is essential if Mexico is to maximize its potential as a tourist destination, “Tourism is a priority for Mexico. That’s why President Felipe Calderon has declared 2011 the year of tourism with an important calendar of activities,” Guevara said during a meeting of the American Association of Port Authorities. She added that the Mexican government’s commitment to tourism will be seen in

a series of actions to facilitate “faster growth in the coming years” in that sector, which represents 9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

“The tourism industry is the country’s third-leading source of for-eign currency (after oil and remittances) and there is great potential and opportunity there” in terms of Mexico’s economic growth, Gue-vara said. ■

Mexican government looks for more cruise arrivals to Mexico

Alejandro de Humboldt House-Museum, at Old Havana.

rative pieces, the Medal Hall pre sents the evolution of coins in Cuba, on display according to stages: Proclamation of In-dependence, Spanish, the Re-public and contemporary.

This showcase features the first bills printed in Cu-ba, authorized by the Spanish government starting 1855; the bills of the Republic of Cuba in Arms and cases with the first coins minted in Cuba. Unquestionably, this is an ex-cellent display of Cuban nu-mismatics, very well defined and documented. ■

pieces representative of all the continents.

Located in the former Banco Mendoza, a building that con-serves the excellent architec-ture of its façade, a model of the banking typology of the first two decades of last century, the Mu-seum provides services of spe-cialized library, expert in valua-tions and guided visits.

The Transitory Hall, dedi-cated to exhibitions on historic events or specific numismatic themes, allows private collec-tors to display their own exhibi-tions. Reserved for commemo-

CREATED by the national Bank of Cuba on December 11, 1975 as a cultural heritage ins titution, the numismatic Museum has three permanent exhibition halls and a collection of more than 160,000

travel trade caribbean • year XI • issue 20014

Léster, how is Cubatur structured?Cubatur Travel Agency is

the company of its type with the most years of work and experi-ence in Cuban tourism. On April 1 we will be celebrating 48 years of work with national and inter-national tourism, mainly from the principal markets: Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Russia, Argentina and Mexico.

Present in all the tourist des-tinations, it has more than a thou-sand workers – more than 350 in functions related to integral tour-ist assistance and more than 300 specialized guides in English, French, German, Italian, Portu-guese, Russian, Czech, Chinese, Japanese and other languages.

It represents some 100 im-portant tour operators and offers a wide variety of hotel and non-hotel national services in sectors such as culture, science, sports, education, flora and fauna, nauti-cal and all those representing an attraction for our clients.

And which are Cubatur’s principal products?

Given our vocation for a ser-vice of excellence, we have creat-ed several companies that manage the principal products: Interna-tional Sales, Events and Incentives and the provincial companies, which promote and market excur-sions in their destinations.

Cubatur offers integral as-sistance services in the country,

reptiles and amphibians; trek-king, cycling tourism, diving, motorcycle rallies, academic tourism and scientific programs.

Could you please tell us about Cubatur’s plans?

To continue consolidating the cruise operations we have assist-ed in this season, prepare our-selves for the new operations we are organizing with the markets: Argentina, nordic countries, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Por-tugal and UK; to take a strategic leap in the use of new technol-ogies in online promotion and sales; to position our Specialized Tourism products: Una Inmer-sión en la Historia (An Immer-sion into History), diving in San-tiago de Cuba’s sunken ships; Fotosafaris, a tour of Cuba tak-ing photos; or discovering the life of Hemingway through the program that will be presented at FITCuba 2011, Hemingway’s Islands.

We are a group of devoted, noble, modest persons who give priority to their responsibility with our company. I am con-vinced that we will meet any goal we set for ourselves, be-cause of the human resources we have. We appreciate the trust placed in us by our clients, tour operators, suppliers and institu-tions we work with to develop Cuban tourism. ■

the hiring of specialized guides, assistance and representation to international tour operators; it organizes and coordinates cir-cuits and combos, the Manejan-do Cuba (Fly & Drive), it tends to cruise tourists at ports and board-ing and landing points, it guaran-tees lodgment reservations in dif-ferent categories of hotels (stays), transportation, car rental, reser-vation and sale of national plane tickets and the chartering of planes.

In addition to this product portfolio, we offer specialized services in the organization of Events, Congresses and Incen-tives and in Specialized Tou r ism programs… watching of birds,

Interview with Léster Oliva, President of Cubatur

Viajes Cubanacán

CREATED BY A HEAD OFFICE, 13 spe-cialized companies and 11 provincial ones, this travel agency has a sales network in Cuba with offices in the principal airports and tour-ism desks in numerous hotels. Associated to a great deal of the world’s major tour opera-tors and travel agencies, it has guaranteed in recent years travel arrangements for around 40% of the tourists visiting the country. It has guides that speak more than 20 languages.

It operates a wide gamut of tourism mo-dalities:

Conventional Tourism – Circuits and tai-lor-made nature, beach and city tours.

Events and Incentives – With more than a decade of experience in this modality, it de-signs, organizes and carries out programs that combine working sessions with leisure and recreation.

Specialized Tourism – Its options include nature, Diving, Fishing, Health and Quality of Life, Senior Citizens and Youth programs.

Programs with Cars – For those who opt for driving a car through chosen routes (Flexi Fly and Drive, Fly and Drive and Car Rental).

Excursions and Tours – Their departure points are generally from the hotels. ■

CubadeportesCUBADEPORTES Travel Agency, pro-moter of tourism and sports exchange, was created in 1992 based on the expe-rience of the 11th Pan American Games and it focuses on specialized trips and academic, scientific and professional sports exchanges in Cuba, as well as the sending abroad of specialized technical assistance in all sports disciplines and sciences applied to sports.

A basic example of its work is the organization of international sports events in the country, in coordination with Cuban and foreign tour operators. Every year it tends to more than 6,000 persons from 80 countries.

Services provided in Cuba: assis-tance to groups; local transportation; lodgment in hotel installations with specialized attention; emergency med-ical care; sports programs; training; tourist options; and scientific-techni-cal services. ■

travel trade caribbean • year XI • issue 200 15

How do you charac-terize San Cristóbal?

San Cristóbal Tra vel Agency, creat-ed on April 4, 1996 by the Habaguanex S.A. Tourism Company, emerged with differ-ent and tempting pro-posals for the histor-ic-cultural product. The principal value of the programs and routes we propose to clients is Old Havana, its hotels with their charms, its good cuisine and its environment, combined with the history and culture of our country. We operate mainly in old cities and locations and historical centers like Trinidad, Cienfuegos and Camagüey; and other heritage or protec ted sites.

The agency is characterized by a high le-vel of services for clients who like the special-ized product, who enjoy culture and history, guided by a high professional travel organiza-tion; we stand out for our professional guides. Plus, the specialization of San Cristóbal in the segment of incentive travel, which seeks an elite product with a permanent assistance in the destination.

Which are your principal products?We have developed studies to seek the

most autochthonous of our culture and his-tory; thus we have created specialized routes and whole programs on themes such as archi-tecture, religion, archaeology, Havana cigars, fortresses, the restoration works of the histor-ic center, illustrious personalities and intel-lectuals, among others.

The 2011 product portfolio includes new offers: Photo Tour Click of Cuba, for art and photography aficionados; Panorama of Cuban Architecture, which shows the authenticity of cities and conserved architectural works; Cuba and its Economic, Social and Cultural Deve-lopment, one of the Historic Center of Havana’s experiences and the progress made in the con-servation and restoration of historic cities.

And the projection for the upcoming sea-sons?

The year 2010 had very good re-sults with a 34% in-crease in income. To continue work-ing in the diversifi-cation of the histor-ic-cultural product is a goal to which we aspire in such a competitive world we live in today. We have the force of

creativity and imagination to thus give the best of our roots and customs and show our most beautiful feature, our people.

In the international sphere we are living moments to demonstrate capacity, strength and proven reasons that convince that Cu-ba is a magnificent destination in the Ca-ribbean and that we offer safety and plea-sure. Traveling will continue being what is expected by many during their vacations or in the world of business or internation-al events. We hope that the San Cristóbal Travel Agency will have a 2011 with grow-ing success, with the strength of the Haba-guanex Company and the guidance of the Office of the Historian, based on common strategies that today are already in action in the markets. ■

THE HAVAnATUR S.A. International Group of Tour Ope rators and Travel Agen-cies has been in the interna-tional market for more than three decades as a leader in the promotion and marketing of Cuba. Throughout these years its condition as a 100% Cuban tour operator has in-creased and it has been ac-credited in the world as “the Cuba specialist.”

Pioneer in the negotiation of tourist markets to Cuba, ever since its foundation it established associations with foreign tour operators and created its own travel agen-cies in the principal tourist markets. The Group is cur-

Interview with Luis Enrique Sotolongo, President of the San Cristóbal Travel Agency

CubaWith Havanatur

ets in more than 10 of its own branches and its wide-ranging sales network –national and in-ternational air tickets.

It operates convention-al and specialized tourism, in the modalities of diving, nature, academic, cultural, health, congresses and in-centives and multidestination trips – combining Cuba with Cancún, Mexico City, Méri-da, Guatemala, nassau, Costa Rica, Venezuela, nicaragua, Ecuador and Panama.

Havanatur is a member of the Latin American Tourism Organizations, the Caribbean Tourism Organization and the International Air Transport Association.■

rently made up by more than 14 agencies: in the Americas (Ar-gentina, Chile, Mexico and Can-ada); Europe (Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Russia and Spain) and the Caribbean (Bahamas).

In the country, it is the on-ly Cuban tour operator that also has its own travel agency, Tour & Travel, which serves as operation-al support for the reception and at-tention of clients with more than 100 guides. It also has eight repre-

sentation offices in the country’s principal tourist destinations.

Its other agency, Havanatur Celimar, has specialized in trips from and to the United States. It stands out for air operations in the country’s different airports and circuits, programs and trans-portation.

For open tours through the is-land, Havanatur offers rent-a-car services at airports, hotels and tourist destinations. It has a glob-al system of Amadeus air tick-

travel trade caribbean • year XI • issue 20016

AMISTUR, THE TRAVEL AGEnCY of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peo-ples, created in 1994, markets programs for sociopolitical to groups, personalities, friends and work brigades that travel to Cuba, with the backing of international friendship or-ganizations and countries from all over the world, tour operators and travel agencies.

Amistur has the capacity to offer person-alized attention and satisfy the specific inter-ests of visitors who wish to get to know Cuba

from a different standpoint to the one per-ceived from the promotion as a tourist des-tination. This is possible thanks to its strong ties with solidarity with Cuba groups in the world, friends who want to get to know the reality of the Cuban people.

Its principal objective is to favor tourists’ direct contact with the most important factor in the country’s social dynamics, its people. Amistur has organized the trips of numerous international solidarity with Cuba brigades,

Amistur: A People-to-People Bridge

G A v I O T A T O U R S

Fifteen Years Making What’s Natural, Ours

CUBA’S GAVIOTA TOURS S.A. TRAVEL AGEnCY, belonging to the Gaviota Tourism Group, is celebrating its 15 years. Emerging in Varade-ro, today it is represented in the country’s principal tourist centers: Ha-vana, Varadero, Cayo Santa María, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba and Bara-coa. It has a flexible structure, ideal for responding to any request.

The agency has championed the enjoyment of the width and length of our island, pure nature in places such as Cayo Santa María, Topes de Collantes, Cayo Saetía and Pinares de Mayarí; its urban landscapes full of history and tradition in Havana, Trinidad, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba, Baracoa; and its cheerful and hospitable people, always in de-fense of the natural.

A professional staff with experienced guides complete the success of the offers: excursions, stays, restaurants and nightspots; specialized reception at airports; attention to conventional, special or incentive groups; representation of tour operators before the Chamber of Com-merce of Cuba; assistance to tourists; transportation; organization of tailor-made tour programs and car rental; always adapting to the needs of tour operators, agencies and final clients to achieve an attractive quality-price relationship.

The agency also has the infrastructure of the Gaviota Tourism Group, which includes three-, four- and five-star Gaviota Hotels throughout the island; the comfortable Transgaviota tourist transpor-tation; the Rent a Car Via; the specialized services of Marinas Gavi-ota; the Aerogaviota airline; and an attractive non-hotel offer. It also manages the facilities of the rest of the hotel and non-hotel chains and of the airlines that operate in the destination.

It is a harmonious enterprise, with defined priorities and focused on achieving results. In that direction, the tendency has been towards growth since the start of its operations. Today, the guarantee of a greater competitiveness is backed by the Certification of the Quality Management System based on the nC-ISO 9001:2008. ■

COnTACTAve 47 no. 2833 e/ 28 y 34, Reparto Kohly, Municipio Playa, La HabanaTels: (53 7) 2079481 / 2047526E-mail: comunicacion@gaviotatours.cuWeb: www.gaviota-grupo.com

whose members support collaboration proj-ects and combine community, agricultural or construction work with leisure and the full enjoyment of the destination’s attractions. ■

COnTACTAvenida Paseo no. 406 e/17 y 19, Vedado, La HabanaTel.: 833-2374 / 834-4544 / Fax: 838-3753E-mail: amistur@amistur.cu

comercial@amistur.cu

H A v A N A ’ S D E l U x E R E S T A U R A N T S

A Place for Each Occasion...LITERALLY FAITHFUL TO ITS SLOGAn, A place for each occasion, Havana has in the Deluxe Restaurants Company a varied network of establishments in centrally located places whose diverse gastronomic offer satisfy the demand of the most dissimilar and demanding clients, for each moment or for each occasion.

From luxurious and dazzling restaurants for formal suppers and lunches, following the strictest gourmet protocol, to light food cafe-terias where travelers make a pause to recover

from the exhausting walks through the streets of Havana; be it in family, among friends or simply alone.

For businesspeople, Deluxe Restaurants displays its spaces for meetings, in several meeting rooms, working breakfasts or sup-pers. Places that can also be used for musi-cal sessions, weddings, parties, birthdays or other celebrations.

Classical, modern, elegant and function-al, each one has a history behind it, its own

charms, traditions and legends. And in com-mon, the conservation of styles, comfort, refinement, sobriety and committed to the “house dish,” in traditional Cuban as well as international cuisine.

Surrounded by a retro aura of the 1950s, the Deluxe Restaurants are undoubtedly the right places to enjoy the pleasure and the art of good cooking. They treasure, as their most prized jewels, eight restaurants that identify them. ■

mOnsEignEUR International cui-sine with conventional French-style deluxe service.Quite a classic of Havana nights, it still conserves the charm of the 1950s. Famous for its excellent cuisine, red meat, fish and sea-food.Calle O No. 122 esquina a 21, VedadoTel.: +537 832 9884

lAs BUlERíAs Spanish cuisineA sort of Spanish tavern that at-tracts for its typical Spanish dish-es, with touches of Cuban cui-sine.Calle L No. 434 entre 23 y 25, Vedado Tel.: +537 832 3283

CEnTRO VAsCO Basque cuisineGastronomic complex, whose menu stands out for its codfish, seafood, chops, paellas and vas-cada – the house dish.Calle 3ra No. 413 esquina a 4, Vedado Tel.: +537 830 9836

sOFíA Cuban and international cuisineBar cafeteria whose offer rang-es from formality, in its private room, to light food, in its cafete-ria open round the clock.Calle 23 No. 202 esquina a O, Vedado Tel.: +537 832 0740

TRAsTEVERE Italian and interna-tional cuisineIts downtown location in a popu-lous commercial area and its di-verse menu make it attractive for a broad gamut of public.Calle Galiano e/ Concordia y Neptuno, Centro HabanaTel.: +537 866 0295

EmPERADOR International haute cuisineA favorite for the quality and gar-nish of its food, the fish, seafood and red meats stand out among the exquisite dishes featured on its a la carte menu.Calle 17 entre M y N, Edificio Focsa, VedadoTel.: +537 832 4998

El COnEJiTO International cui-sine specializing in rabbitA restaurant bar that recreates an 18th century English tavern; its menu includes, in addition to rabbit meat dishes, others of in-ternational cuisine.Calle 17 esquina a M, VedadoTel.: +537 832 4671

hURón AZUl Cuban 21st centu-ry cuisineIt offers exquisite and original dishes in which the fusion of meats and fish with sugarcane juice, honey, peanuts, coconut, rum and other typical Cuban sea-sonings predominate.Humboldt esquina a P, VedadoTels.: +537-833-3176

+537-833-3178

Calle 19 no. 552, esquina D, Vedado, La HabanaTels: +537-8304292 / 8323525 ext. 102 E-mail: direccion@rl.ch.gov.cu

travel trade caribbean • year XI • issue 20018

THE PARADISO CULTURAL TOURISM AGEnCY, dedi-cated to the promotion and marketing of the island’s cultural tourism product, has designed a mature and professional offer of cultural tourism, together with hotel chains, transportation companies and other agencies.

For specialized clients it offers cultural festivals and events, such as the Book and Cubadisco international fairs; the Varade-ro Jam Session, Gibara Low-Budget Film, new Latin Ameri-can Film and Ballet international festivals; and the Internation-al Meeting of Ballet Academies.

Paradiso also organizes tailor-made programs for incentive or specialized groups, excursions and thematic cultural tours; lessons in popular dance, music, language, painting, variety shows and other manifestations; courses, workshops, master’s degrees, postgraduate studies and degrees. ■

THE JAMAICA PRIME Minister Bruce Golding officially opened the Jamaica’s third international airport. The Ian Fleming Interna-tional Airport is located just five miles from Ocho Rios, and has undergone a series of develop-ments to accommodate the arrival of private international aircraft as large as the Dash-8. Speaking at the official opening of the facili-ty, Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism

Edmund Bartlett said that “we are tremendously encouraged about the growth prospects for the is-land’s tourism.

“The opening of Jamaica’s third international airport is a positive step in our continued efforts to enhance our tourism infrastructure and sustain our position as a leading tourism des-tination,” said Jamaica’s Director of Tourism John Lynch. ■

Jamaica’s Third International Airport Officially Opened

P A R A D I S O

The Best Option to Get to Know Cuba through its Culture

travel trade caribbean • year XI • issue 20020

pearl (natural element of light), cultured pearls and other marine beings; semiprecious stones, set in silver thread, crystal and glass beads.

From her hands flourish wom-en’s adornments made with Cu-ban seeds set in handmade beads, of her creation, with disposable

MAYRA YAnES VALIDO (Ha-vana, 1962), painter, draftswom-an and ceramist. Self-taught, she has complemented her born skills with the study of drawing, paint-ing and ceramic techniques and the production of shows, theatre and dance.

Mayra’s pictorial proposal can be identified through its gestural and incisive stroke, the ardent and affable color, the insinuating tex-tures, as well as the intense and incandescent tropical light. She embraces the figu rative tendency and is familiar with the impres-sionist influence that recurrently appears in her works. Perhaps the gestural is more underlined in the expressionist codes that are also enrolled.

Mayra’s work is validated by an intense and progressive production that since 1999 has not stopped her vertiginous rise, expressed in the sequence of 15 personal exhibitions in Cuba and Spain, and about 50 collective exhibitions and contests.

Mercedes Oviedo, a Caribbean Touch to Jewelry

Mayra Yanes, Authentic Architect of Color

materials, following a retro trend in the style of the 1960s, which varnished and combined give a Caribbean touch to her earrings, necklaces or bracelets.

Some 25 displays and exhibi-tions in very dissimilar spaces in Cuba and Italy, and more than a dozen medals, distinctions and recognitions related to the cul-ture sector, launch an intense ca-reer and bear witness to her work and the acceptance of her hand-made work. ■

Mercedes Oviedo, a Caribbean

Mayra Yanes, Authentic Architect of Color

A CREATOR OF JEWELRY, costume jewelry and accessories, as well as a couturier and jour-nalist, the work of María Mer-cedes Oviedo Ramos (1949), with her Arte Lidia 7 brand name, fea-tures diverse tendencies with her own desi gns and sty le. She uses natural ma te rials like mother-of-

The art fairs, especially the FIART International Crafts Fair, stand out among the events in which Mayra participates in eve-ry edition. Her curriculum con-tains several publications in Cu-ba and Portugal.

YASSER GAMOnEDA Mon-tero (Havana, 1971). Self-taught painter and ceramist. In the last 15 years he has made incur-sions into a pictorial work with a marked surrealist tendency, permanently nurtured with ele-ments of daily life that transmit to spectators a discourse full of symbols and enriched with his characters who, although they are on paper, an apparently frag-ile material, come to be the pil-lars of a visualization where feelings, desires, emotions and human miseries force us to feel we are protagonists of these ar-tistic creations.

Yasser Reflects the Faces of His Spectators

The use of mixed technique with predominance in the use of acrylics, oil paints and natural elements in-corporated into the support enrich the global reality which Gamoneda captures in his paintings. Accord-ing to the artist, “The best portrait of reality is the faces of the specta-tors, which see themselves reflected in what I express in my paintings.”

He has notched up seven per-sonal exhibitions and around 20 collective displays. Especially important is a Cuban traveling display through diverse Chil-ean cities. His systematic incur-sions into digital art have crystal-lized in a series of publications on web pages of cultural institu-tions of Cuba, Chile and Spain. His works are present in private collections in Curacao, Ecuador, Spain, Guatemala, Jamaica, Italy, new Zealand, the United States and Canada. ■

An indefatigable creator, she takes her art to very diverse spaces. Winner of several prizes and mentions, her work has been marketed in expo sales in art gal-leries and hotels, fairs and other exhibition grounds. ■

travel trade caribbean • year XI • issue 20022

1. All interested persons can participate2. The selected theme is “Cuba Destination”3. The photos must have been taken in Cuba, starting 20074. Up to five works can be sent in, printed in 300 dpi format of 30 X 40

cm and the digital version in .tiff format, on DVD/CD by email or by FTP, with the following author’s data: Titles of the works / names and last surnames of the author / Home address / Telephone number / Email address / Work or study center

5. Closing entry date is March 31, 20116. One Grand Prize, two prizes and mentions will be awarded7. The results will be announced in May 2011, at the Main Activity for

the XV Anniversary of TTC, in the framework of FITCuba 20118. The contesting works will be exhibited at the XV Anniversary of

TCC Photography Contest Photo Gallery, at www.traveltradecarib-bean.com

9. The contesting works will form part of the photo collection of TTC for their possible publication, always acknowledging the name of the author; and a selection will be exhibited in a gallery.

Sending in of workS

1. Printed and on DVD/CD ■ From Cuba: to San Ramón # 664 entre San Dionisio y Avenida

del Carmen, Celimar, Habana del Este, La Habana, Cuba

■ From abroad: to TTC Travel Trade Caribbean, Via Galileo Galilei, 47, 20092, Cinisello Balsamo, Milan, Italy

e-mail

photos@traveltradecaribbean.com

fTP

ftp.traveltradecaribbean.com/photos

Jury

President: Julio Ángel Larramendi Joa Members: Fernando Francisco Valdés Álvarez and Hubert Delestre Car-mell

PrizeS

Stays, with a companion, in two Gran Caribe hotels: Villa Cuba Resort, three nights in an All-Inclusive plan, and the Hotel nacional de Cuba, for two nights in CP plan; Excursions with a companion: Original works by Cuban artists.■

TTC newSPaPer

■ Edition no. 4 BMT Italy ■ Edition no. 5 FITCuba Cuba ■ Edition no. 6 Top Resa France ■ Edition no. 7 TTG Incontri Italy ■ Edition no. 8 WTM United Kingdom ■ Edition no. 9 Fihav Cuba

arTiSTS who have donaTed workS aS PrizeS for winnerS of

Xv anniverSary of TTC PhoTograPhy ConTeST

1. Cecilio Avilés Montalvo | painting

2. Rubén Fernández Leal | painting

3. Mayra Yanes Valido | ceramics / painting

4. Yasser Gamoneda Montero | painting

5. Ramón Pérez Pereira | engraving

6. José Ramón Blanco - VIAnKO | painting

7. María Mercedes Oviedo Ramos | jewelry

8. Alonso Fleitas | painting

Next EditionsMay 2011 - XV Anniversary

o. 4 BMT ItalynewSP

■ Edition ■ Edition no. 5 FITCuba Cuba■ Edition no. 6 Top Resa France■ Edition no. 7 TTG Incontri Italy■ Edition o. 8 WTM United Kingdom■ Edition o. 9 Fihav Cuba

monograPhiC Cuba Caribbean oPeraTorS book (Cob)

TouriST direCTory

Will be launched for the 15th Anniversary of TTC, in May 2011, and in the framework of FITCuba 2011. In Spanish, Italian and English, it will include a description of the destination and a list of its en-tities.

The TTC Weekly News electronic bulletin will continue to come out as well as the online Caribbean Operators Book (COB) Tourist Directory at http://www.caribbean-operatorsbook.com.

formaTS, raTeS and PubliCiTy

Italy: ttc.italia@gmail.comCaribbean: marketing@traveltradecaribbean.com

www.traveltradecaribbean.com

x v A N N I v E R S A R y O F T T C

Photography Contest Rules

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