Vice President of Marketing at Gaviota Tourism Group, Palabras de Frank Paid Oltuski, kicks off Gaviota Travel Mart’s  5th edition with a clear message: “Cuba is open and fully operational!”.

The second most important tourism event in Cuba, Gaviota Travel Mart, took place this October in one of the new travel destinations Cayo Cruz.

This year's main focus was on the two new destinations: Cayo Cruz and Cayo Paredon. Cuba is ready to provide new destination experiences with all accommodations and logistics available on these islands.

Gaviota has also provided updates on the new hotel openings, efforts made to recover and diversify the market and introduced new travel products for the upcoming winter season.

Cayo Cruz

Cayo Cruz already has quite a few hotel options available for tourists including adults-only and all-inclusive Valentin Cayo Cruz which hosted Destinos Gaviota presentations.

New for the destination in their own marina. Travellers staying in Cayo Cruz can enjoy all the activities that the marina provides without commuting to Cayo Coco.

What’s more, Cayo Cruz is upgrading the Wi-Fi accessibility across the entire island and providing additional training for the staff in anticipation of the new hotel openings.

Now let’s talk about what’s new and coming to Cuba in 2023-2024 from the featured suppliers of the show:

Gaviota Tours Cuba

With 27 years of experience, Gaviota Tours continues to make your clients' experience and stay in Cuba as smooth as possible. Gaviota Tours provides activities across the island and offers something to each type of traveller.

Gaviota consists of the following sections:

• Gaviota Hotels Cuba – Gaviota offers more than 30,000 rooms throughout Cuba
• Gaviota Tours Cuba – Travel Agency which provides over 150 excursions across the island
• Marinas Gaviota
• Transgaviota
• ATcommercial - Supplies

NEW

• Camaguey overnight trip
• Camaguey tobacco and Rum excursion
• Jeep safari (includes a tour of one of the biggest farms in Cuba)
• And Camaguey city tour

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Santa Maria Key

Called the Hidden Heaven or Paradise, Cayo Santa Maria is a place that has it all: excellent services, gastronomy, sandy beaches, water sports, stunning accommodations, and more!

Key offerings:

• Music Festivals - A new addition to Cayo Santa Maria experiences are music festivals which already had a few successful events in the past with 16k attendees! The next show is scheduled for November 23. Click here for more details.
• The One Gallery Beach Resort – a brand new hotel for art lovers. This property features a live gallery and was designed by international artists

Blue Diamond Resorts

In Cuba Blue Diamond Resorts offers 17 hotels, 7,735 rooms, and 6 brands (Royalton Luxury Resorts, Mystique by Royalton, Sanctuary at Grand Memories, Grand Memories Resorts & Spa, Memories Resorts & Spa, and Starfish Resorts).

NEW

In February 2024, a new brand will be entering the island called Resonance! The company will feature 2 adult-only properties: Resonance Mustique and Resonance Blue. In addition, a few resorts in Varadero and Cayo Santa Maria will be rebranded, and Resonance will have 4 properties in total on the island.

Melia Hotels International

Melia Hotels International offers 8 destinations in Cuba and over 80 hotels catering to couples, families, mice etc.

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. 

Also, the Sol by Meliá brand will be managing a new property in Holguin called Sol Turquesa Beach (former Occidental Playa Turquesa) with 530 rooms. This beach resort reopened 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 much positive feedback from travellers.

Iberostar Cuba Hotels & Resorts

Iberostar offers 18 hotels in 7 destinations in Cuba. 2 of those are in the new Cayo Cruz: Iberostar Coral Esmeralda and Iberostar Collection Esmeralda. Explore these new hotels here.

Another notable opening is happening in Havana. Iberostar will add a new 5-star Iberostar Selection La Habana property to its long list of hotel offerings in Havana.

Iberostar is also celebrating its 30th anniversary with a new campaign called “Welcome”.

Archipelago

Archipelago is an award-winning hotel group offering 18 brands and over 350 properties in the world. In Cuba, the company offers 6 hotels:

• Grand ASTON Cayo Las Brujas Beach Resort & Spa – chick and stylish beach escape located on a 3km long pristine white beach.
• Grand ASTON Cayo Paredón Beach Resort – the shining star of the new island Cayo Paredón. Located only 20 minutes away from the CCC airport.
• ASTON Costa Verde Beach Resort – an all-inclusive beachfront hotel in the Holguin. Offers 749 rooms and suites.
• Grand ASTON La Habana – the new signature hotel on the Malecón
• Grand ASTON Varadero Beach Resort – opened November 1m 2023. The closest hotel to the airport. 531 rooms
• ASTON Panorama Hotel – Offers panoramic ocean views in Havana’s embassy district. 320 rooms.

Archipelago doesn’t stop there and is ready to announce 4 upcoming properties in the D.R. and Mexico:

• ASTON City Bella Vista, Dominican Republic
• ASTON Piantini Boutique Hotel, Dominican Republic
• ASTON Naomi Boutique Hotel & Residences, Playa del Carmen, Mexico
• Mamitas Beach Resort & Residences, Playa del Carmen, Mexico - ASTON Collection Hotels

MGM Muthu Hotels

23 locations, 4 continents, 50+ hotels. MGM offers it all! Properties are located in Portugal, Spain, France, England, Scotland, Cuba, Kenya and India.

In Cuba, you can stay at 12 MGM properties:

• Habana: Gran Muthu Habana – 524 rooms
• Varadero: Muthu Playa Varadero – 385 rooms
• Cayo Guillermo: Grand Muthu Cayo Guillermo – 500 rooms, Gran Muthu Imperial – 500 rooms, Gran Muthu Rainbow – 248 rooms
• Cayo Santa Maria: Gran Muthu Cayo Santa Maria – 846 rooms
• Holguin: Gran Muthu Almirante Beach – 514 rooms
• Cayo Coco: Muthu Colonial – 458 rooms

NEW FOR 2024

MGM Muthu Hotels & Resorts will open 4 new hotels in Cuba offering 1,300+ more rooms:

• Gran Muthu Torre Habana – Havana, 515 rooms
• Muthu Lincoln Hotel – Central Havana, 136 rooms
• Muthu Las Tunas – Playa Covarrubias, 180 rooms
• Gran Muthu Ensenada – Holguin, 482 rooms

MGM UNIQUE 

MGM Muthu Hotels is the only hotel chain in Cuba that specializes in Indian weddings. Hotels’ Indian chefs offer amazing wedding buffet dinners with different delicious menus to please all the guests!

Also, the chain offers the first all-inclusive hotel in Cuba aimed at the LGBTQ+ segment - Gran Muthu Rainbow.

Muthu Aviation

Muthu Aviation has been established to provide domestic flights to key destinations in Cuba. 

The airline has the capacity to offer daily or twice daily services and is working on adding more destinations. Routes include:

• Havana – Holguin – Havana (6 flights per week, flight time 1 hour and 25 minutes, $170 per person, one way, taxes and fees included)
• Havana – Cayo Coco – Havana (5 flights per week, flight time 60 minutes, $165 per person, one way, taxes and fees included)
• Havana – Las Brujas (Santa Maria) – Havana (5 flights per week, flight time 50 minutes, $150 per person, one way, taxes and fees included)

The inaugural flight is due to depart from Havana International to Holguin in December 2024 (subject to approval from Cuban Authorities).

You can book via DAT (Danish Air Transport) GDS or directly via Muthu Hotels or via www.cubabooking.com.

Vila Galé Hotels

A new hotel chain is now present in Cuba called Vila Galé Hotels.

In partnership with Gaviota, Vila Galé manages the Vila Galé Cayo Paredón, an all-inclusive resort in Cayo Paredón Grande, 25 minutes from the Jardines del Rey airport, in Cayo Coco. 

The resort was built from scratch next to the beach. The property offers 638 rooms, Club Nep for children, an Espaço Galera area dedicated to teenagers, rooms for events, a nautical center, a tennis court and much more. As for the gastronomy, the hotel offers five restaurants and several bars, including pool, beach, and theme bars.

Vila Galé Cayo Paredón is scheduled to open this November!

More brands have joined Gaviota Travel Mart 2023 including Angsana Cayo Santa Maria, Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria, Valentin Hotels & Resorts (offers 4 adults-only hotels: Valentin Perla Blanca, Cayo Santa Maria; Valentin Cayo Cruz, Cayo Cruz; Valentin El Patriarca, Varadero; Valentin Quinta Avenida, Havana), Kempinski Hotels Cuba (has 3 hotels: Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski, La Habana, Gran Hotel Bristol, La Habana managed by Kempinski, and Cayo Guillermo Resort Kempinski), Swandor Hotels & Resorts (offers 2 hotels: PGS Varadero Resort, Woovo Playa Hermosa Cayo Paredon Grande), Sirenis Hotels & Resorts (2 hotels in Cuba: Grand Sirenis Cayo Santa Maria, Sirenis Tropical Varadero), Roc Hotels Cuba (offers Roc Presidente, Havana; Roc Arenas Doradas, Varadero; Roc Barlovento, Varadero; Roc Casa del Mar, Cayo Santa Maria), Axel Hotels (Telégrafo Axel Hotel La Habana), and ATG Hotels (Selectum Family Redort Varadero).

Official Inaguration of Gaviota Travel Mart at Playa Paredon, Cayo Paredon, Cuba

By Kateryna Ivchenko