Melia Plans to Offer Telework Packages at its Hotels in Cuba

Meliá is finalizing a plan to offer telework packages at its hotels, which it will start in Cuba. (EFE)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 11 September 2020 — The Spanish hotel company Meliá is planning to launch a new type of accommodation for teleworking, at its hotels in Cuba. The project will be aimed primarily at Canadian customers, the main source market for tourists, according to a company spokesperson speaking to the Spanish newspaper ABC.

“The idea is to offer long-stay accommodation, with high-speed Wi-Fi and free access to a co-working room and the possibility of also booking a video conference room,” said the representative of Meliá, which has 39 hotels on the island located in Cayo Coco, Cayo Guillermo, Cayo Largo, Cayo Santa María, Holguín, Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Varadero, Camagüey and Cienfuegos.

Although the company is still finalizing details and preparing packages, the choice of Cuba is based to the fact that it is considered “a safe destination that offers a unique environment and excellent weather.”

The companies Accor and B&B Hotels are other hotels that have launched similar offers in an attempt to recover from the big drops that tourism is experiencing around the world due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Covid-19 has also forced millions of people to work from home, a situation that is not always easy because spaces must be shared with with family members and children who have not been able to attend school in person. The hoteliers seek to provide solutions to those who need a quiet and safe space in which to carry out their tasks.

Meliá has had confidence in the possibilities of Cuba as a safe destination from very early on, although the epidemiological situation has become complicated. In recent weeks, the number of infections has been rising, reaching 92 cases yesterday (of which only one is imported), the highest number of local positives since the pandemic began. Ciego de Ávila and Matanzas also present a complicated picture and many provinces are beginning to take measures to slow the curve.

“Taking into account all the facilities of the Cuban health system, I have no doubt that Cuba can be greatly strengthened. This requires the world to believe us, because the world does not always believe the good things that happen in Cuba,” said Francisco Camps, deputy general manager of the hotel on the island, this summer.

In an interview with EFE the manager endorsed the approach that segregates foreign tourists from Cubans.

Currently the Cuban keys are the only areas foreign tourists are allowed to visit, but there have been hardly any flights from abroad with the exception of one plane from Canada. In the next few days a plane from Russia is also expected.  The greatest growth in tourism in Cuba in the last year has been in travelers from Russia.

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