• Submitted by: manso
• Travel and Tourism
• 07 / 24 / 2011

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Collier agency among those that can book trips

Roy Ramsey is the Director of Operations for Betty Maclean Travel in Naples. It is the first local travel agency to offer trips to Cuba. The company works with worldwide tour company Abercrombie & Kent to offer the trips from Miami. / andrew west/The News-Press

Cuba at a glance

Geography: Area: 44,200 square miles, slightly smaller than Pennsylvania.Capital: Havana (population 2 million). Other major cities include Santiago de Cuba, Camaguey and Matanzas.

Terrain: Flat or gently rolling plains, hills; mountains up to 6,000 feet in the southeast.

Climate: Tropical, moderated by trade winds; hurricane season (August-November); dry season (November-April); rainy season (May-October).

People

Population: 11.2 million; 76 percent urban, 24 percent rural.

Language: Spanish.

Government Type: Communist state; current government assumed power on Jan. 1, 1959.


Political party: Cuban Communist Party (PCC); only one party allowed.

Source: U.S. State Department

More

It's getting easier for Southwest Floridians to walk into a local travel agency and book a trip to Cuba.

Betty Maclean Travel in Naples is among the first agencies in the area to offer tours of the once-elusive island nation.

The trips, hosted by international luxury tour company Abercrombie & Kent, depart by charter flight in Miami beginning in September and start at $4,325 per person. They're offered in partnership with the Foundation for Caribbean Studies and require an additional $200 donation to the organization in order to meet U.S. guidelines for travel.

As of January, people may travel to Cuba for educational, humanitarian, religious, agricultural or other "purposeful" reasons.

A&K booked 22 Cuba tours the first day they were offered, said Roy Ramsey, director of operations for Betty Maclean Travel.

"They know and we know there is all kinds of pent-up demand for people from the U.S. to go to Cuba legally," he said. "It's the first time an average citizen can go on a tour to Cuba without going to Canada or Mexico first or something like that."

The 11-day tours, called "Cuba: The Forbidden Isle Revealed," include a stroll along the streets of Old Havana, a visit to a 19th century pharmacy in Matanzas and a stop at Finca Vigia, Ernest Hemingway's former seaside home.

Other local travel companies hope to follow suit.

"As soon as we can start selling it, we'll offer it," Geraci Travel consultant Fred Greene said, adding that a few clients have called recently to inquire about Cuban travel.

The south Fort Myers agency is looking into operators that have been certified for tours.

Adventure Travel of Florida, based in North Fort Myers, will consider booking trips to Cuba after it learns more about the procedures and U.S. tours have operated smoothly for a while.

"I'm not sure of all the ramifications as to what you can and can't do," Adventure Travel agent Jinya D'India said. "I've been shying away from it until they get it all squared away."

Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection named Southwest Florida International one of 15 airports in the country permitted to be used for charter flights to Cuba.

So far, though, no charter companies have approached RSW to offer service. It likely will take time before flights for any educational groups leave Fort Myers runways, said Victoria Moreland, the airport's director of public affairs.

"I don't expect to see anything in the near future," she said.

For now, many tours are offered from Miami. As more local agencies secure partnerships with approved educational tour operators - either for sea or air travel - it could help revitalize the travel industry.

"It's definitely going to be a big boost," Greene said, adding that he anticipates Cuba travel becoming popular for cruise lines.

He said it shouldn't be long until the volume of charter travel leads to more direct flights.

"If we have direct flights, that will open up the possibility for land travel," he said.

Source: www.marcoislandflorida.com/article/20110721/BUSINESS/107210375/