Q & A with Oscar HernandezGeneral Coordinator of Occidental Hotels in Cuba

by Maria Caridad Gonzalez

Occidental Hotels was one of the most aggressive, hands-on attendants to Cuba´s International Tourism Fair held in Cuba last week. This time around, Caribbean News Digital talked extensively with Oscar Hernandez about the company´s immediate growth prospects in this Caribbean country.

Could you explain to our readers the kind of work that Occidental Hotels is doing in Cuba as we speak, I mean, new openings, additional rooms and short-term projects in the offing?

As we speak, we´re just about to complete a hotel that´s being built in Ensenacho Key, under the Occidental Royal Hideaway trademark. This establishment must be finished by October this year and go into operations by late December. This is a five-star, all-inclusive lodging that has a twin facility in Mexico´s Cancun, in Playa del Carmen. Its 506 rooms are divided in three areas: the Royal Spa, the Royal Hideaway and the Royal Suite. Ensenacho Key has a lovely 1.6-mile-long strip of unexplored beach. As I said, this hotel will be ready to go by the end of the year and must be fully operational on July 2006.

With the addition of this new hotel, how many rooms is your company going to run in the country?

We´re closing in on 1,400 accommodations all across the country, considering that our Occidental Miramar Hotel in Havana has 427 rooms, the Occidental Gran Playa Turquesa in Holguin has 531 rooms and the new resort in Ensenacho Key will have 506 rooms. That adds up to nearly 1,500 rooms.

You´re basically operating with Gaviota, the Cuban tour company, aren´t you?

We´re working with Gaviota, but we´re also negotiating with other Cuban companies as well. The three hotels we run in Cuba are owned in part by Gaviota, so is the one we´re going to build in Varadero. We´re holding talks with other Cuba-based groups to make them jump on our bandwagon. I mean, Gaviota is not our exclusive partner on the island.

What outbound markets are coming to Occidental Hotels in Cuba?

As far as beach is concerned, Canada, Germany, Italy and the U.K. are on top of the list. In the case of our urban location in Havana, we mostly have Spanish, Mexican and Colombian guests checking in.

You own hotels that are closely linked to the sun-and-sand segment, but it seems to me your Occidental Miramar Hotel is also trying its hand at events and conventions, am I right?

Yes, you are. In the case of the Occidental Miramar Hotel, we´ve combined not only the event and congress segment, but also history, culture and beach. That takes us to our Miramar Plus program that embraces the Havana Club, Old Havana and the Museum of Rum. We´re just about to add the Music Stand Hall at the Karl Marx Theater and the National Seaquarium, both in Havana. We believe it´s important to make guests venture out of the hotel, especially in a city like Havana with so many places worth taking a stroll to and enjoying.

What tour operators are you working with right now?

As to the Occidental Miramar Hotel, we´re doing business with Canada and a number of Latin American nations. Their tour operators say the Miramar Plus project has caught on dramatically among their customers, especially in the case of Canadians who only come to Havana to tour the city rather than staying in hotels here.

What projections could Occidental Hotels be mapping out for the Caribbean based on their Cuban experience?

Well, first of all, I must say that out not being in Cuba was no doubt a pending matter we had to tackle. Occidental Hotels is the Caribbean´s leading chain in all-inclusive resorts, so it was unbelievable that we own two dozen facilities in the Caribbean and we didn´t have a single lodging in Cuba. A year and a half later, we now have three fully operation hotels on the island and we´ve got projects in the work to add far more rooms to our stock here. That speaks volumes of Occidental´s decision to put its smart money on Cuba.

We´re also trying to liken these hotels to other resorts in the area. The Royal Hideaway, for example, with its deep-pocket clientele, is trying to bring its facilities in Mexico´s Playa del Carmen and Cuba´s Ensenacho Key closer together. Based on the Cuban experience, as you asked, we´re also reaching out to the rest of the Caribbean and take the Royal Hideaway concept to other countries like the Dominican Republic and Mexico. The intention is to advance Occidental´s all-in concept in this region.

How did you do at the 2005 International Tourism Fair in Havana? What deals did you cut?

The Fair gave us a window to show off our portfolio of new products, to strengthen the ties with our Cuban partners, both those on the islands and the ones operating from overseas. I should mention the cases of Havanatur, Sol y Son and Cubana de Aviacion. Occidental brought a full-fledged team to the fair, made up of all of its outposts from around the world. I´m afraid Occidental had the largest delegation to the fair.

What do you expect from the Chinese market? What concrete perspectives are you harboring?

We began to attend the Beijing Fair this year. For us, the Chinese market is highly important because, according to the World Tourism Organization, China is destined to become one of the world´s top three outbound markets by the year 2020 with 140 million potential travelers in the country.

What actually worries many companies and hotel chains is how they are supposed to lure the Chinese market. Most Asian markets are far from trendy or seasonal; they simply choose a destination or reject it altogether. In the case of Occidental, we´re already working in that sense. For instance, we´ve set up three Chinese-language TV stations at the Occidental Miramar Hotel because we´ve started to receive a number of Chinese guests at the hotel.

And in the case of Venezuela, do you see any perspective for Occidental Hotels in the Venezuelan market?

We haven´t tapped the Venezuelan market, but there´s no doubt this is an interesting segment, not only on the basis of the number of tourists that travels to Venezuela, but also the vision of this country as an outbound market. And Venezuela is also blessed with great tourists attractions, especially along the Caribbean shoreline and in the hinterlands.

Is there any message you´d like to put across through our online newsletter?

Just to say that we´re very pleased that Occidental Hotels is in Cuba to stay and that we´re very happy for having talked to Tourist Excellences.