Best of Cuba holiday

Planet

Throughout this tour, we use overland minibuses throughout rather than flying, which helps us reduce the negative environmental impacts of our travel. We do the majority of our sightseeing on foot, which is perfect for visiting Cuba's fascinating and tumbledown colonial cities.

Due to the scarcity of consumer goods in the country, Cubans are excellent at reusing goods and almost nothing goes to waste (hence the huge number of 1950s American cars that are still driven today – not because Cuban’s are American car fanatics but because keeping them running is necessity). In terms of waste reduction, Cuba has very m

inimal shops and snacking outlets so there aren't many opportunities during this trip to 'create' waste, which is great. However, for those who need, there are recycling points in the cities that our Tour Leader will point out to us as we explore. Even plastics are reused and often plucked out of these bins by local Cubans for resale, and then used to hold coffee, refilled with boiled water for drinking, or converted into homemade food containers.

In addition to the above, we are continually looking for ways to improve and are proud to be ‘Responsible in everything we do’. Education is key and so all staff, Tour Leaders and partnering suppliers are trained in responsible and sustainable tourism. At our Head Office, we continually strive towards a sustainable and planet-friendly working environment, including having solar panels installed and a company commitment to reducing our plastic usage. As well as this, we have valuable and longstanding partnerships with UK charities Toilet Twinning and Send a Cow, plus many smaller initiatives and projects around the world. We’re members of UK travel industry bodies Tourism Concern and AITO because we believe it’s important to share our knowledge and experience, as well as learn from other operators.

People

Travelling to Cuba with us on this tour makes a difference, especially to the local staff who work as tour leaders, guides, drivers and hotel staff. Although wages in Cuba are set and strictly controlled by the government we look to provide our local staff with other, non-monetary incentives instead (although of course tips from groups are always welcomed!). For example, we have hosted our Cuban Tour Leaders in the office in previous years, during our regular training sessions, giving them the opportunity to mix with Tour Leaders from our other destinations around the world. Overseas travel for Cubans is almost unheard of and a trip abroad really is the opportunity of a lifetime for a Cuban. We have also conducted training courses locally for our leaders and provided them with everything from first aid kits and walking boots to mobile phones – consumer goods are very hard to obtain in Cuba so these items are necessary but also gratefully received.

7 of the 9 nights on this trip are spent in casas particulares, which are locally-owned homestays, with usually between 4-8 beds. The money from our visits goes directly to the owner of the house, and they also cook up some hearty meals for their guests! We also encourage our groups to eat in small Paladars run by the locals. Due to food rationing, food is more limited in the Paladars compared to the hotel restaurants, however by eating in them it not only supports the local economy but also gives our customers a real insight into the realities of Cuban life.