The impressive delegation from the Cuba Tourist Board
Hugo Rocho of Hola Sun with
Patrick Shaw of Cuba Cruises
Sheila Aue of Travel Info with
Nancy Jackson and Nicole Bursey of Transat Holidays
Sunwing Travel Groups' Andrew Dawson with Transat Holidays' Nancy Jackson and Pierre LePage of CATO
Sometimes it’s just nice to go to a presentation that’s not a presentation.
So Friday was doubly nice. A group of tour operator, hotel, airline and other travel honchos was invited by the Cuba Tourist Board to a luncheon at Toronto’s posh Sutton Place Hotel, where the message was a simple and gracious “Gracias”.
In his brief address to the group, the First Vice-Minister of Tourism Alexis Trujillo thanked everyone for the positive year so far. Stressing the success that can be found through collaboration, he pointed out that Canadian visits are up 2% year over year, and so far we have already sent 800,000 clients to the beautiful beaches, warm hospitality and unique culture that is Cuba. “And we are counting on you to attain one million!” The Cuba Tourist Board folks say that the Canadian market is “Number 1, 2 and 3” in delivering visitors!
As guests enjoyed seafood salad followed by strawberry watermelon sorbet and stuffed chicken breast, you could see that the chances of many of them going back to the office to put in a solid couple of hours’ work was… shall we say… becoming slimmer by the minute.
It was a wonderful opportunity to (literally) smell the roses – each female guest received a long-stemmed red rose, while the gents were treated to a Romeo y Julieta cigar – and to chat with our friends and colleagues in this all-too-often hectic industry.
Gracias to all the Cuban delegation – including the always smiling and welcoming Nieves Ricardo of the Tourist Board in Toronto – for a charming afternoon.
