By Kateryna Ivchenko

Another successful Travel Agent Appreciation night took place last week where over 200 agents met with representatives of Cuba’s most popular resort brands, delegates of the Cuba Tourist Office and Hola Sun Holidays team!

Here is what you need to know about the latest updates from the Cuba suppliers which were presented at the event:

Meliá Hotels International

The hotel chain has announced that a new brand called INNSiDE by Meliá has entered the destination with a brand new boutique hotel in Havana - INNSiDE Habana Catedral. 

The Sol by Meliá brand will be managing a new property in Holguin called Sol Turquesa Beach (former Occidental Playa Turquesa). This beach resort is scheduled to reopen on November 1, 2023.

Also, Sol by Meliá has recently opened the hotel Sol Caribe Beach in Varadero, a resort in the heart of Varadero, which is an excellent 4* option for families and groups in the destination. It has already become one of the most popular properties in Varadero with many positive feedback from customers.
 

Blau Hotels

Blau Hotels offers travellers 2 resort options in Cuba: Blau Varadero Adults Only and Blau Arenal Habana Beach. 

The Varadero property has been rated as one of the best hotels on Varadero beach and offers an exceptional stay in a unique setting. Meanwhile, Blau Arenal Habana Beach offers an excellent beachfront hotel along the fine white sands of Playas del Este.

Barceló Hotel Group

Barceló offers Canadians 3 properties all located in Varadero: Allegro Palma Real, Occidental Arenas Blancas, and Barceló Solymar. 

Occidental Arenas Blancas and Barceló Solymar are both front beach hotels and offer “Stay At One, Play At Both” service for guests staying at either one of the hotels.

Sirenis Hotels & Resorts

Sirenis has 2 properties on the island: Sirenis Tropical Varadero and Grand Sirenis Cayo Santa Maria, which first opened in December 2019. Both resorts offer exceptional service in idyllic tourist spots.

Iberostar Cuba Hotels & Resorts

Iberostar offers 18 hotels in 6 destinations in Cuba and Hola Sun sells them all! Click here to see Iberostar’s latest campaign called “Welcome”.

Selectum Hotels & Resorts

This is a brand new product in Cuba! Selectum Family Resort Varadero has opened in February 2023 and is already popular amongst Canadian travellers. This property is perfect for families and offers options for relaxation and pleasure. More new properties have been opened as well and mentioned in the “New Hotels” section below.

And now back to the star of the event – Hola Sun Holidays!

Hola Sun is celebrating 32 years of business. The company continues to offer Canadians perfect Cuba getaways with competitive prices, excellent service, and roundtrip fares. Cuba Specialist now offers 12 destinations with the island and over 190 hotels across Cuba.

To officially start the new winter season, soon Hola Sun will be releasing their popular 2023-2024 digital brochure, showcasing the island’s best offers and destinations. In addition, Hola Sun’s website is currently undergoing a complete rebuild. The company is aiming for a more modern, user friendly and a more interactive new website, which is expected to be ready in a couple of weeks. Air Transat will be Hola Sun’s air carrier for the summer, fall and winter season. Agents can now offer clients Option Plus purchased directly on Air Transat website under “Manage My Booking”.

New Hotels

• VRA
  • Selectum Family Resort Varadero
  • Grand Aston Varadero (opening soon)
  • Sol Caribe Beach
• SNU
  • The One Gallery Hotel
• CCC
  • Grand Aston Paredon
  • Hotel Vila Gale Cayo Paredon
• HOG
  • Grand Memories Holguin (used to be Hotel Tesoro Del Atlantico)

New Destinations

Another highlights of 2023-2024 season are 2 new tourist destinations: Cayo Paredon and Cayo Cruz, which will be inspected by Travel Agents on Hola Sun’s upcoming FAM trip.

To get to the new hot spots your clients will fly in and out of Cayo Coco and take ground transfer to Cayo Paredon (about 30 min) and/or Cayo Cruz.

Cayo Paredon is featuring 2 beach resorts: Grand Aston Cayo Paredon and Hotel Villa Gale Cayo Paredon.

New Tourist Area in Holguin

A new tourist development called Ramon de Antillas has been announced last year and WheelsUpNetwork had an opportunity to learn about it during Hola Sun’s 2022 FAM trip to Holguin. We have also visited the first property in the development project (out of 17 which are planned to be opened later) called Grand Memories Holguin (used to be Hotel Tesoro Del Atlântico). 

Hugo Rocha, Hola Sun Sales Director expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming winter season and said that he is optimistic about the current sales trends. He has also acknowledged that there's still work to be done but expressed confidence in the support of the retail partners and their repeat clientele for a successful season. This statement is positive and indicates a sense of anticipation and hope for a strong winter season.

Don’t forget about Hola Sun’s additional offerings like the Safety Ring Plan which allows your clients to cancel their trip 3 days before the departure, Travel Agent Loyalty Program which offers cash for each traveller booked with Hola Sun and Perks for Group Bookings.

From left to right: Maria Reyna, Hola Sun Operations Coordinator, Hugo Rocha, Sales Director, Lessner Gomez, Director of the Cuba Tourist Office, Sanaz Gholami, Client Services and Sharon Arghittu, Product Director.

Cuba is a place like no other with it’s fantastic beaches, perfect weather, cultural heritage and history, Cuba is UNICA!