BBC reports Thomas Cook holidaymakers and crew 'trapped' in Cuba

Tourists trapped in Cuba. Prevented from leaving hotel by security guards.

Text messages say Cuba is the "worst place to be stranded" and ask for help.

 Thomas Cook, a 178-year-old British travel company and airline, declared bankruptcy on September 23, 2019, suspending operations and leaving hundreds of thousands of tourists stranded worldwide. It also exposes how tourist industries in different countries respond to this mess.

Cuba has proven to not be a normal country, and their hospitality industry has more in common with a military command style then with the service industry.  BBC News reported today in the article "Thomas Cook holidaymakers and crew 'trapped' in Cuba" reported how the Cuba tourist industry operates in a military like fashion:

"There are security guards at the hotel the crew are at to prevent them from leaving. They haven't even been guaranteed rooms for tonight, so it could be a case of sleeping on the reception floor," a colleague of the staff affected told the BBC. She urged action to get the staff home, saying 'they've already been through more than enough'. Another holidaymaker, Shaun Woods, said his flight was due to depart on Wednesday, but the hotel said it would not let them get on the bus to the airport until they paid."

Tourists have consistently been warned of the dangers of traveling to Cuba, and the failure of the travel industry to accurately inform their clients. Travel agencies have been sued by their clients for misrepresenting conditions in Cuba. 

Please share! This is mental and this is REAL! My friends are being held in Cuba!!! #Thomascookcrew #ThomasCookcollapse #thomascookairlines pic.twitter.com/cE1TNO9Vpc

— Natalie Sandiford (@NatSandiford) September 24, 2019

Tourism in Cuba is run by the Cuban military conglomerate GAESA. On September 9, 2016 the Associated Press in the article “Cuban military expands its economic empire under détente” reported:

“The military’s long-standing business wing, GAESA (Armed Forces Business Enterprises Group), assumed a higher profile after Gen. Raul Castro became president in 2008, positioning the armed forces as perhaps the prime beneficiary of a post-detente boom in tourism. Gaviota, the military’s tourism arm, (a subsidiary of GAESA) is in the midst of a hotel building spree that outpaces projects under control of nominally civilian agencies like the Ministry of Tourism.” The same article also reported that “Gaviota has 62 hotels with 26,752 rooms across Cuba, pulling in some $700 million a year from more than 40 percent of the tourists who visit Cuba.”

The military general in charge of GAESA is Luis Alberto Rodriguez, is General Raul Castro’s son in law.  Obtaining hard currency for the dictatorship is GAESA's chief objective.  This includes covering up epidemics to ensure that tourists continue visiting the island.

On January 8, 2019 New Scientist reported, "Cuba failed to report thousands of Zika virus cases in 2017." Havana also failed to report outbreaks of Dengue (1997) and Cholera (2012). Jailing those who warned the world of the threat. 

In the case of Spain that translated into 42 imported cases of the Zika virus in travelers to Cuba.     While travelers had visited other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, "the Zika cases were only identified in those who visited Cuba."

It is important to inform prospective tourists both on the risks and also on how to engage in purposeful travel to Cuba. This includes how to avoid becoming a mouthpiece for the dictatorship. The bottom line is that Cuba has a lot more in common with North Korea than with Jamaica or the Dominican Republic, and tourists should take that into account.