Some Canadians are rethinking their travel plans to Cuba as the island-nation struggles to recover from rolling blackouts. But it’s unclear if it’s a temporary blip, or something that will hurt the island’s long-term tourism prospects.
“The blackouts across Cuba have expectantly impacted future bookings somewhat and caused some people to cancel in the near term,” ACTA President Wendy Paradis told Open Jaw in an email on 23OCT. “We hope and expect that this situation will be temporary and resolved soon.”
“Cuba is a very popular destination for Canadians and we don’t see this changing long term” she said. “However, we understand that some Canadians who are there now have been impacted not only by the blackout but also by Hurricane Oscar in the eastern part of the island.
"ACTA will continue to receive input from its members on this evolving situation,” Paradis added. “Travel agents are working hard to accommodate any cancellations and at the same time, they report taking new bookings for the future.”
"We are happy to report that the electricity has been restored at 100% of the hotels in Cuba and at all the tourist areas," said Lessner Gomez of the Cuba Tourist Board of Canada on 23OCT.
"Cuba made a quick recovery on Tuesday afternoon and successfully has stabilized the grid," he told Open Jaw.
Gomez said more than 70 % of the country's power was restored by the morning of 23OCT, with more power plants expected to come online throughout the day.
Travel advisors say they're not sure how the outages will play out in the long term.
"I do feel that this may be a little different than a hurricane or other natural disaster," Mike Foster, President of Nexion Travel Group-Canada, told Open Jaw.
"By their very nature, those are unpredictable, and can happen almost anywhere in that part of the world, and over increasingly-longer seasons. These are events that are happening more frequently, more predictable, and in time, they become part of the destination’s reputation," Foster said.
"Cuba has had more than it’s share of challenges," he said. "It is such an important destination for so many Canadians and is a beautiful country with wonderful people. I sure hope that they can get back to more predictable solutions, quickly," he said.
The Globe and Mail reports the island's power grid has fully or partly failed four times in the past six days, and that Canadian travel agencies have seen an uptick in cancellations.
"But industry representatives said they continue to book reservations for the popular destination as travellers expect the situation to get back to normal," the newspaper said.
“We have cancellations now because of what is in the news," Serge Malaison, chair of ACTA's Quebec section, told The Globe. "People are very stressed, We have customers currently in Cuba that are trying to come back.”
Several Canadians who are still in Cuba or have just returned reported only minor inconveniences in the resorts as authorities work to restore power after the collapse of its energy grid on 18OCT.
Despite the Cuban government’s reassurances, nervousness appears to be a major problem – made worse by a lack of information, according to CTV.
Helen Pike told the network she has experienced only minor problems in her Varadero hotel, such as lack of air conditioning and credit card machines not working.
“I feel fairly secure right now," Pike said. "I'm just worried if this goes on, how safe are we going to be?"
The CTV article also quoted Canadian Alex Barron saying his Cayo Coco resort lost power on the night of 21OCT, despite having a generator.
"Right now, we do have power," said Cuba visitor Penner Briggs, who noted that some of the less experienced travellers in his resort were feeling panicked. "We do have food,” he said on 22OCT. “But as we learned last night that can change in a moment's notice."
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Barron and Briggs told CTV that they have not been contacted by the Canadian government or received any answers from local authorities.
Global Affairs Canada was still warning Canadians on its website to avoid non-essential travel in the storm-tossed provinces of Guantanamo and Holguin as of 22OCT.
Ever since the power grid collapsed Cuba has experienced rolling blackouts and isolated street protests, adding to an ongoing scarcity of food, fuel and medicine among Cubans, Reuters reports. Many resorts have their own generators. In properties without independent power, guests have been moved.
The Cuban death toll has climbed to seven by 22OCT after the hurricane-turned-tropical storm Oscar departed the country on its way to the Bahamas and then picked up steam on its way to Bermuda. Air Canada announced 23OCT that passengers to Bermuda can make free changes due to the tropical storm.
