As the summer was wrapping up, Cuba welcomed its first flight of Canadian tourists. And considering that for some Canadians, Cuba has become a “home away from home,” well, the fun just begun. Air Canada’s flight from Montreal, with 104 passengers, arrived in Cayo Coco recently and marked the re-opening of the island for international tourism. Flights from Toronto will resume as well, with additional destinations in Cuba to be announced soon.

Lessner Gomez, director of The Cuba Tourist Board in Toronto, said: “We are very excited to receive Canadians back in Cuba, all the right safety protocols are in place and Canadians can travel to Cuba with confidence knowing that Cuba it’s a safe destination where they can spend winter”, adding: “all the passengers took the Free COVID-19 test and 100% of them tested negative.”

The tourism authorities have been working hard on upgrading all the tourism facilities and even introducing new services, such as implementing the general use of credit cards. Though the use of credit cards is nothing new, the service was very limited to the hotels and major shopping centres only.

Now, as part of the COVID-19 measures and in order to avoid dealing with cash, the government has extended the use of credit cards to pay for all services in and out of the hotels, including taxis, car rentals, tours, etc.

Gomez explained: “This measure has been applauded by Canadians since it’s not only more convenient and safe, it also gives them a chance to avoid currency exchange into Convertible pesos (CUC), now tourists can pay directly with credit cards or directly with their own currency (CAD, USD, Euros, etc.).”

For more, go to www.gocuba.ca