March2017-Flipbook

TOURISM
Singapore Plants its
Flag in Cuba
Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts has big ambitions
for its second destination in Latin America
By Nick Swyter
Photos supplied by Banyan Tree
The 516-room Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria on Cuba’s northern coast
Cuba’s hotel industry—which has been
dominated by Spanish brands such as
Meliá and Iberostar for the last 25 years—
is making way for a new player from Asia.
Singapore-based Banyan Tree Hotels
& Resorts plans to open four resorts in
Cuba by 2019—enclaves that will extend
their brand of “naturally-luxurious,
ecological, culturally-sensitive” properties
in anticipation of the steep growth in
tourists heading for the island nation.
While Banyan Tree is relatively
unknown to Americans, it’s a recognizable
hotel chain in Asia. The company
has dozens of luxury properties across the
continent and in parts of Africa. Now it’s
expanding its presence to Latin America
by opening resorts in both Cuba and
Mexico.
“In a lot of our hotels we’ve been a
relative pioneer developer,” Banyan Tree
Managing Director Des Pugson told
Cuba Trade. “Cuba fits that pioneering
spirit, combined with the medium and
46 CUBATRADE MARCH 2017
long-term potential of the whole country
for tourism.”
About 4 million people visited
the island in 2016, according to Cuban
government statistics. The country hopes
to welcome 10 million visitors annually
by 2030—but to make that happen Cuba
must speed up foreign tourism projects.
“The opportunities for the industry
to grow are really vast and enormous,”
says Richard S. Newfarmer, co-author of
a recent Brookings Institution report on
tourism in Cuba.
Banyan Tree’s Cuba play is centered
on two geographic regions. The company
recently soft-opened its 516-room Dhawa
Cayo Santa Maria on Cuba’s northern
coast, about 70 miles east of Santa Clara.
It plans on opening an adjacent 220-room
Angsana Cayo Santa Maria by November
of this year. Banyan Tree’s other destination
will be Cayo Buba, a small island
known for its mangroves that sits next to
Varadero’s resort strip. The company plans
on opening adjacent resorts here by 2019.
As is required by Cuban law, Banyan
Tree is partnering with state enterprise
Gaviota SA to build its resorts. Pugson
says Banyan Tree has a management
agreement with Gaviota that allows the
Singaporean company to manage properties
owned by the state enterprise.
Opponents of U.S. engagement
with Cuba consider the move controversial
because Gaviota reports to the
Cuban Ministry of Defense (MINFAR).
According to the recent Brookings report,
Gaviota controls about 25 percent of the
rooms available to international tourists.
U.S.-based Starwood also partnered with
Gaviota for its Four Points by Sheraton
hotel in Havana.
“As an owner they have been very
supportive. They have delivered the hotel
on time, which is pretty good,” said
Pugson, adding that it's not his place to
comment on U.S. skepticism of Gaviota.
While U.S. companies interested in