With the aim of expanding specialized people-to-people tourism, the Amistur travel agency is consolidating its work, as Jorge Adolfo Abigantud Raez, the company’s director general, told Granma International.
Attached to the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), “The institution works to show visitors the Cuban reality in all its magnitude, supported by over 2,100 friendship associations in 152 countries,” the director, who also holds a Masters in Economic Organizational Consultation, added.
“We put together personalized programs, aimed at providing knowledge in areas of our economic, political, social and cultural life. We specify according to the concrete objectives of the visitor and cater to their profession, I’m talking about technicians, intellectuals, academics, those interested in the environment and sustainable development, those seeking cultural identity, plus other sectors such as women, youth and the trade unions.”
The agency emerged in 1994, as a financing alternative for ICAP, when Cuba was suffering from the cruelty of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the U.S. administration, as well as the collapse of the socialist bloc in Eastern Europe.
Abigantud Raez emphasizes, “With all the obstacles that U.S. tour operators face in making money transfers and paying for the services provided, due to the unjust blockade laws, we have responded to the marked interest of U.S. tourists in getting to know our island, delving into its history and speaking with the people, hence the growing number of visitors from that country.”
An important area promoted by the agency are the volunteer brigades which provide solidarity efforts in social projects, receive talks by experts, enjoy specialized tours of diverse cultural centers and several provinces of the island, and are even provided with interpretation services for those who don’t speak Spanish.
“Before the travelers return to their country, we conduct surveys and interviews. We have confirmed a high level of satisfaction from our clients, who recognize the visits to the neighborhoods as the highest quality product, coordinated with the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, the Federation of Cuban Women, the Association of Combatants and other political actors of the community. The visitor exchanges with residents: a professional, an intellectual, a youth, a housewife, a campesino, a child, asking all kinds of questions. They realize that Cuban society has survived precisely because of the unity of its masses, the solidarity of other peoples and the commitment to the work of the Revolution,” Abigantud Raez explains.
To contact the agency, you can visit the website (www.amistur.cu), social networks facebook (amisturcuba) and twitter (@amisturcuba), or contact the headquarters in Havana or solidarity groups around the world.
“We work with a staff of 34, but we rely on the local ICAP offices in every province, officials and employees of the institute, we are an efficient agency, our economic indicators are positive, we maintain consistent accounts and have a group of workers with a high sense of ownership.”
The director concluded: “The level of customer satisfaction with Amistur tourism programs is very highly rated, just as is the work of the Revolution.”
