Havana, Cuba.
Enjoy five nights and six days in a hotel Cuba it is now more than ever within reach of any pocket, with only one condition: the guest cannot leave the room. The “imprisonment packages” are the answer to the collapse of tourism on the island as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some hotels in the Caribbean country don’t like to be empty: six branches in Havana, one in Varadero and another five in other regions have welcomed customers of all nationalities who have taken advantage of one of the new offers since last weekend.
You can read: Argentina on the brink of collapse: 50,000 deaths from coronavirus
With a minimum price of $ 250 and a maximum of about 600, the confinement package includes transfer and accommodation with full board in settings between three or five stars, in addition to medical care and the number of PCR tests required, so that the client can be released on the sixth day if appropriate is from Covid-19 infection.
TWO OPTIONS: FREE AND PAID
Cuba today is suffering from the second wave of Covid-19 infections with between 500 and more than a thousand cases per day in recent weeks, record numbers for this country of 11.2 million inhabitants that had successfully overcome the first months of the pandemic , in which the daily positives never reached the hundred.
In order to control infections, which in this second wave were mainly attributed to travelers from abroad, everyone arriving in the country is required to go into isolation until they have collected at least two negative PCR tests with a margin of at least five days.
Look here: Shocking images of the massive crash in the US.
So there are two options for isolation: the free one, namely to spend at least a week in state institutions of questionable comfort possible in places such as campgrounds and student residences, and the paid option, with one of the new packages that can be purchased online from home or directly in the arrivals hall of the airport.
Cubans and islanders can choose between the two, while foreigners arriving as tourists or for other purposes do not have the option of going to a state center, and must spend the period of isolation in a hotel.
“We are doing actions in the networks so that the customer comes with the purchased package,” said the marketing director of the Havanatur state agency, Isabel Docampo, in a meeting with Efe and other international media in Havana to explain the new initiative.
CUBANS AND TOURISTS
So far, most of the hundreds of travelers who have purchased one of the “confinement packages” are Cubans who live in other countries, mainly the United States, and who return to visit their relatives, Docampo said.
There are also Cubans who return from private or work trips, as is the case with Madeline Hernández, who arrived with her family from the Dominican Republic this week and is staying at the four-star Comodoro Hotel, in western Havana.
“I travel for work and my company pays us the package, so we don’t have to go to an isolation center, which are different conditions,” explains this 49-year-old woman, who works for a foreign company, from her balcony. bungalow in the Cuban capital.
Although Cubans currently occupy the vast majority of hotel rooms reserved for travelers only, in Havanatur they believe that their offers could also appeal to European, Asian or American tourists looking to escape the cold and harsh restrictions that are being created in their respective countries. imposed.
“The tourist who arrives and buys the package spends those five nights and six days in isolation and if it is negative they can continue a tour of the country or continue with the program they came here for,” said the Havanatur representative. .
SEND THE DOCTORS HERE
Some Cuban hotels, such as the Comodoro or neighboring Meliá Habana (five stars), have never closed due to the pandemic and now house travelers in isolation, so they have had to adapt some of their facilities to the strict hygiene and safety that these types of guests require .
Marino Elorza, Managing Director of Meliá Habana, explains the basic rules for contamination prevention: “physical barriers such as workers’ screens and gloves, maximum compliance with all processes set by public health, and continuous communication with our team of doctors in the hotel “.
These doctors visit each guest individually twice a day to check their health and take their temperature.
“I always say to customers: now the boss in the hotel is the white coat, the doctors are, because the priority is that we all take care of ourselves,” says the director of this hotel, which reserves 90 rooms for isolated travelers. of which currently occupied 22. EFE