CUBAN citizens can travel to the Caribbean to experience the paradise that is the Riviera Maya.
While they can’t buy a ticket, they can take a guided tour of the beaches.
Travel agent Chiquita de la Luna says she knows of one company that can help travellers arrange the trip.
“For $1,500 we will get you a ticket and you can go on the tour with us, with a guide.
We will give you information on the beach, and then we will send you a photo and you will go and see the island,” Chiquitas assistant director of operations, Miguel Castro, told Al Jazeera.
Cuba’s tourist bureau says it has helped more than a thousand travellers in the past year.
However, the number of visitors is small compared with the number who visit the United States.
Castro says that it’s not easy for Cuban travellers to make the trip to the Rivieras, and that the number one thing they should do is to check with the hotel.
“When you are on the Riviere, you have to go to a hotel.
When you are in Miami, you go to one of those luxury hotels.
You can go to Havana, but they are closed,” he said.
The resort’s main hotel, which is named after the island, is located on the eastern side of the island.
Castro, who works for a travel agency based in the capital, Havana, said it was easy to find a tour operator.
“We are the best in the world, because they don’t use the internet.
We use the phone, they use our email and they use a web site to send us information.
So we have the perfect service.”
The Riviera is an important destination for Cuban tourists because of its proximity to the US, the Caribbean’s main landmass.
It’s also the third-largest resort destination in the Caribbean.
Cuba is the third most popular holiday destination for foreigners in the United Kingdom, after the US and Spain, according to a 2016 study by the Travel and Tourism Research Institute.
Travel agencies and hotels that cater to tourists have become increasingly popular, and in recent years have attracted the attention of the US government.
The US Department of Commerce has designated the Riviersas as a “sanctuary” for Americans and declared that Cuba’s tourism sector should be free of any foreign interference.
It also banned travel by US citizens and permanent residents in the country.
Castro said that he knows of some tour operators that cater for Cuban visitors.
“But it’s still not the right situation.
We have to be in a position where there is a clear, public and open market,” he added.
Chiquitas, a major company in the tourism sector, is one of the largest travel agents in Cuba.
Its website advertises a tour that costs $1.50 for adults and $1 for children.
It offers a guided trip to a “special” beach resort in the town of El Paraiso, about 70 kilometres south-east of Havana.
There are no other tour companies that can provide tours to the island at this time.
According to Castro, he has booked a trip to El Paraso in the coming days.
