The government of Cuba has decided to open its airspace to tourist flights from abroad since Wednesday, the riskiest measure of all those that have been taken since the country began its return to normality.
However, the decision is based on the sanitary control that has been established in the country and that produces a favorable balance regarding infections, deaths and recoveries in recent weeks.
Thus, the Cuban government makes available to foreign visitors some of the main sun and beach destinations in the country, as announced on June 11, when the general de-escalation plan was communicated to the public.
Then it was said that on July 1 foreigners and Cubans residing abroad who wanted to travel to the island to stay in the hotels of the Cuban keys, could do so, but only within that demarcation, that is, without being able to leave those spas .
For this, since June 18, the sale of tourist offers for international tourists began in the tourist poles of Cayo Largo, Cayo Coco, Cayo Guillermo, Cayo Cruz, and Cayo Santa María, while tour packages are also offered in the big island for nationals.
Hotel chains such as the Mayor Giant Meliá and other national companies such as Cubanacán, Gran Caribe, and Islazul, have already announced the hotels that will begin operations in this first phase.
Although no reports have been provided so far on the first flights to Cuba by travel agencies and tour operators, they have previously attested to the existence of clients interested in traveling to the island from different parts of the world.
Foreign tourists who travel to the island for tourism will not be able to do city or historical tourism, since they will not have authorization to leave the keys, they will have excursions, and other recreational offers, in addition to being able to rent cars in these places.
For days the Ministry of Tourism has been preparing and has offered the Cuban destination as a safe and healthy option, even appealing to the Cuban medical experience as one of the guarantees to fly to Cuba.
According to the Cuban Minister of Tourism, in all three phases protection protocols will be applied that respond to the indications drawn up by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Tourism Organization (ILO).
For example, each tourist who flies to Cuba will have their temperature checked at the airport and periodically, cleaning and disinfection will be redoubled in the places of accommodation and especially the surfaces of restaurants, bars and cafes, among others.
Likewise, each hotel facility has been assigned a team of health professionals who will constantly check the evolution of the situation, and in case of warning signs, among tourists or workers, they have PCR tests, and have a plan of confrontation that includes timely transfers and hospitalizations in Cuban hospital centers.
As has been well clarified, Cubans and foreigners residing in Cuba will be prevented from traveling to the keys to meet their close ones. And in the same way, visitors will not be able to leave this demarcation either.
It is a controversial measure, but more than justified, since the Cuban government intends to keep isolated any possibility of risk of contagion in the country.
However, the decision is based on the sanitary control that has been established in the country and that produces a favorable balance regarding infections, deaths and recoveries in recent weeks.
Thus, the Cuban government makes available to foreign visitors some of the main sun and beach destinations in the country, as announced on June 11, when the general de-escalation plan was communicated to the public.
Then it was said that on July 1 foreigners and Cubans residing abroad who wanted to travel to the island to stay in the hotels of the Cuban keys, could do so, but only within that demarcation, that is, without being able to leave those spas .
For this, since June 18, the sale of tourist offers for international tourists began in the tourist poles of Cayo Largo, Cayo Coco, Cayo Guillermo, Cayo Cruz, and Cayo Santa María, while tour packages are also offered in the big island for nationals.
Hotel chains such as the Mayor Giant Meliá and other national companies such as Cubanacán, Gran Caribe, and Islazul, have already announced the hotels that will begin operations in this first phase.
Although no reports have been provided so far on the first flights to Cuba by travel agencies and tour operators, they have previously attested to the existence of clients interested in traveling to the island from different parts of the world.
Foreign tourists who travel to the island for tourism will not be able to do city or historical tourism, since they will not have authorization to leave the keys, they will have excursions, and other recreational offers, in addition to being able to rent cars in these places.
For days the Ministry of Tourism has been preparing and has offered the Cuban destination as a safe and healthy option, even appealing to the Cuban medical experience as one of the guarantees to fly to Cuba.
According to the Cuban Minister of Tourism, in all three phases protection protocols will be applied that respond to the indications drawn up by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Tourism Organization (ILO).
For example, each tourist who flies to Cuba will have their temperature checked at the airport and periodically, cleaning and disinfection will be redoubled in the places of accommodation and especially the surfaces of restaurants, bars and cafes, among others.
Likewise, each hotel facility has been assigned a team of health professionals who will constantly check the evolution of the situation, and in case of warning signs, among tourists or workers, they have PCR tests, and have a plan of confrontation that includes timely transfers and hospitalizations in Cuban hospital centers.
As has been well clarified, Cubans and foreigners residing in Cuba will be prevented from traveling to the keys to meet their close ones. And in the same way, visitors will not be able to leave this demarcation either.
It is a controversial measure, but more than justified, since the Cuban government intends to keep isolated any possibility of risk of contagion in the country.
