Canada’s Blue Diamond Willing to Expand Operations in Cuba

The domestic market was a key factor to a successful summer for Canada-based company Blue Diamond, the third largest hotel chain with operations in Cuba. Blue Diamond facilities on the island nation chalked up occupancy levels above 60 percent.

Cubans ranked second –trailing behind Canadian sunbathers- among customers that made the most of the offers designed by the group between the months of May to October, according to executives of the firm.
 
For that season, Blue Diamond facilities on the island nation chalked up occupancy levels above 60 percent, according to Rafael Villanueva, the company’s marketing director.
 
The Memories Varadero and Memories Caribe hotels (Cayo Coco), in particular, ran even on weekends with over 80 percent occupancy, a figure typical of the high-peak season, the manager told ACN.
 
“All the actions we take to capture the domestic market were a success, hence we will continue betting on this segment in coming periods,” Villanueva noted.

In this regard, he reported that during the summer they opened seven outlets in Havana and others in Ciego de Ávila and Villa Clara, actions that yielded much higher sales in the domestic market as compared to the same period of 2013.
 
According to Valeriano Lanzarotti, Memories Varadero general director, extra-hotel facilities should not bypass the local market as it accounts for a frontline potential. “That’s why we are always reinventing ourselves in terms of offers to capture their interest,” he was quoted as saying.
 
From her experience as a saleswoman, Mayda Hernandez, who belongs to Cubatur agency in the province of Sancti Spiritus, highlighted the activities of the representatives of the company for trade specialists to firsthand know the product to promote, through approaching and presentations travels.
 
She considered it is a chain plenty of potential to continue attracting the public to its facilities, especially, the domestic market for the quality of its services and the variety of options.
 
With just three years in Cuba, Blue Diamond operates six facilities and four thousand rooms in the Caribbean country, under the brand Memories, with cheapest deals essentially directed to the family segment, and Royalton, luxury and adults-only.

Source: ACN