For newbies.... For simplicity, Cuba Ventures can be thought of as a company that’s a mini Expedia or Priceline. But given the popularity of Cuba as a destination for Canadians and given that tourism is the island’s largest industry and that the Americans are coming, Cuba Ventures has a considerable lead on its potential competitors.
Indeed the company said “there is a unique window of opportunity for Cuba Ventures in that there is minimal competition from American companies due to the U.S. trade embargo yet travel restrictions on Americans going to Cuba are dissipating, opening up a multi billion dollar market servicing these travelers.”
And Cuba Ventures plans to expand its range of services (from the more traditional hotels, car rentals and tours) into more higher margin business. Ecotourism, antique car rental tours, medical tourism and vacations where tourists stay in private residences (based on the HomeAway model) are all on the agenda. Cuba Ventures has listings for about 150 of the so-called Casas Particulares with plans to add another 4,000.