HAVANA — Cuba’s hotels and tourist areas are back online following a nationwide blackout on Oct. 18.

Working round the clock, country officials were able to quickly respond to the glitch that impacted the national grid last week, restoring the national electric system by Oct. 21 and, eventually, electricity at 100% of Cuba’s hotels and tourist areas.

“We have reports directly from the destination that the hotels are fully operational across the country, all facilities and services are back to normal, and that our clients are enjoying their regular tourist activities. It’s business as usual,” said Lessner Gomez, Director of the Cuba Tourist Board in Toronto.

Gomez also noted that the majority of Cuba’s tourist facilities have their own generators, and that the Ministry of Tourism, local tour operators and hotel management and staff did everything possible to minimize the blackout’s impact for guests and locals.

All 10 of Cuba’s international airports were functional and carried out scheduled operations without any problems; each had electricity and fuel service to ensure smooth operations, which are also being guaranteed for the upcoming winter season.

In addition, according to the Cuba Tourist Board, Holguin’s hotels and tourist infrastructure were not affected by tropical storm Oscar, which travelled through Guantanamo province where there are no major resorts.

“Canadians, for decades, have visited Cuba, not only for its pristine beaches and warm weather, but also for the warmth and hospitality of the Cuban people, for its safety and the rich local culture. But it’s the strong friendships with Cubans that keeps them coming back,” said Gomez. “So, for this coming winter season, I would like to invited Canadians to trust us as we are working very hard to deliver quality service and an elevated holiday experience.”

SUNWING UPDATE

Sunwing Vacations, which has a strong presence in Cuba, also confirmed that power has been restored throughout Cuba, as of the evening of Oct. 22.

While all Cuban airports served by Sunwing remained open and operated with either power or via generators during the power outage, and several Sunwing-offered destinations like Cayo Santa Maria, Cayo Largo and Cayo Coco were largely unaffected, other destinations like Cienfuegos had power promptly restored, whereas power grid access has since been restored to Holguin, Havana and Varadero.

Sunwing also notes that a number of all-inclusive properties in the affected destinations it offers were able to operate on backup generators in recent days, “however, the restoration of the national power grid signifies that the vast majority of the country is back to operating as normal.”

In an official statement, Sunwing thanked “the travel advisor community and our customers in destination for their patience and understanding as Cuban officials worked tirelessly in recent days to ensure power was restored, and we look forward to continue working together with travel advisors to offer more all-inclusive Cuban getaways to our mutual clients this fall and winter season.”