Denise Heffron & Sylvie Legaré of Transat with Vox's Armando Mendoça
Cuban Consul General Javier Domokos (left) and His Excellency, Cuban Ambassador Julio Garmendia with his wife Miraly Gonzalez
Karen Puebla & Nieves Ricardo of the Cuba Tourist Board, with Barceló's Rick McCauley
On an evening after yet another snowstorm in the city, is there any more hospitable sound than the popping of champagne corks? And in tony Yorkville to boot, where a host of Cuban hosts (and hostesses) welcomed friends and colleagues to a lovely dinner last Wednesday night.
The purpose? Just to say thank you, according to the Cuba Tourist Board’s always charming Nieves Ricardo. And the group of some 50 guests representing tour operators and trade partners had no trouble warming up with champagne, followed by a dinner including salmon with basil puree, bell pepper risotto and a yummy warm chocolate cake (we’re talking famous landmark resto Sassafraz here).
Guests of honour included His Excellency the Cuban Ambassador to Canada Julio Garmendia and his wife Miraly Gonzalez who drove to the event from Ottawa that day, surely an Olympic achievement.
“You are the ones that make tourism happen in our country. You are our partners,” said Gustavo Rodriguez Zaldumbide, Cuba Tourist Board’s Director for Canada. “You made it possible for over a million Canadians to visit our country this past year.” And 2014 is shaping up equally promising with January tallying a 14% increase in bookings year-over-year.
An exciting new development for the island is the arrival of Cuba Cruise, whose Dugald Wells told me that bookings are doing really well, notably from Europe, though there are lots of Americans and the Canadian market is “coming along”. According to Wells, “Everyone who has gone loves it – the combination of big cities and a private island and the entertainment, which is a combination of Cuban talent and Cirque du Soleil artists.”
Certainly the folks at BrandWorks would like to take a little credit for the success – their Cuba Auténtica campaign is now in its 5th year and reflects, according to Lorne Kirshenbaum, consumers’ desires to experience culture and history – and more than just a beach.
Sadly, no beach weather in Toronto right now. But we were all happy to bask in the glow of Cuban hospitality, as warm here as it is on the island itself.
