Cuba cycling tour

As a part of our continued commitment to responsible tourism, we operate this trip in a way that aims to reduce impacts and to give as much back as possible to the local communities. As this is a cycling trip with a maximum group size 18, we automatically reduce our environmental impacts as well as being able to have a much greater interaction with the local communities we visit along the way.

All services in Cuba are contracted through Cuban government agencies, so funds go directly back into the national economy. Money generated from tourism is channelled into funding schools, hospitals and state infrastructure. The local company is UK-owned, but all contracts for services are made with government bodies. All staff (except for the owners are Cubans) including the drivers, mechanics, guides and office staff. We have had a long-term relationship with the operator thereby stabilising the income generation and creating a more sustainable future.

All trip leaders are hired through a tourism agency which falls under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism. This means that we provide local guides, all of whom are trained and registered. All new guides are obliged to shadow and experienced leader before taking on their own groups. Leaders are expected to give a briefing on Responsible Tourism, and to offer advice on where to shop and eat – this includes recommending that groups eat in family-run “paladares”, restaurants that are set up in private homes and are one of the few examples of private enterprise in Cuba. Any handicraft markets visited on the trip are also privately run by local artisans. This means that much-needed money goes directly to the Cuban people.

Our mechanics, since they are employed on a freelance basis rather than through the government, are not allowed to stay in tourist hotels. We therefore accommodate them in family-run “casas particulares”, the local equivalent of a B&B and this income goes directly to local families.

All accommodation used on the trip is state-owned (either by the Ministry of Tourism or by the tourist services branch of the army). This contributes directly to the local communities as local staff are employed and locally produced and sourced goods are bought for the accommodation benefiting the wider community. We have set up various water/ fruit stops along the way often in houses which belong to local people we have got to know over the years. One example of this is a couple called Maria & Sixto, an elderly couple who lost their house to Hurricane Wilma in 2005. We pay them a small amount of money every time we visit them and give them any leftover food which the groups might have. The government has now rebuilt their house but the groups have actively helped get them back on their feet. In return, they have the opportunity see a typical Cuban country home.

The local operator is in the process of looking for a school project to support in the Girón area, where investment in local infrastructure has been limited, and once this is underway we will then be able to visit the project on the trip. We have at our offices worked to reduce our carbon footprint through a reduction of energy use and energy conservation measures. We also actively reduce the waste produced by having active reduction and recycling policies in place. We run annual staff workshops on Responsible Tourism. Global warming is a reality and to help you make a difference by reducing the carbon dioxide that is produced when you travel we offer a chance to carbon balance your flights. We encourage all our clients to do this and do so for all our staff travel. Go on do your bit!