Cuba Markets New Beach-Culture-Nature Packages at ITB Berlin Amid Flight Shifts

Cuba used ITB Berlin (March 3–5) to push a focused marketing push for the German market, presenting combined beach, culture and nature offers and promising new summer and winter 2026/27 packages even as air connectivity shifted under operational pressure. Orlando Ramos, the Cuban tourism representative in Germany, told partners he would unveil the seasonal offers at the fair and use the B2B environment to lock in distribution and promotional deals.

The trade fair’s scale amplified Cuba’s pitch: ITB Berlin celebrated its 60th anniversary and drew nearly 97,000 professionals, 5,601 exhibitors from 166 countries and roughly 3,000 media outlets, while Messe Berlin announced a strategic partnership with Green Destinations - Good Travel Community and named the Good Travel Institute to manage operational integration of sustainability into ITB programmes. The high-profile setting included a UN Tourism ministerial meeting with about 20 government officials, giving Cuba targeted access to European tour operators and government-level contacts.

On connectivity, the Cuban delegation framed marketing work against a tightening operational backdrop. “Cubana de Aviación had to announce an adjustment to its flight frequency starting April 1, 2026, operating only on Wednesdays the Frankfurt – Holguín – Havana – Holguín – Frankfurt route, due to the current situation in the country caused by US sanctions on fuel.” That change follows a collaboration that began in December 2025 between Cubana de Aviación and Spain’s Plus Ultra on direct Frankfurt–Holguín–Havana services, and it forces tour operators and consolidators to reassess scheduling and weekly capacity for German demand.

Friends Touristik Marketing GmbH & Co. KG travelled with the Cuban delegation; Friends Touristik is acting as Cubana’s general sales agent in Germany and will evaluate “the results of the operation and the conditions for its announced resumption” while negotiating with hoteliers and tour operators. Ramos framed the ITB meetings as a commercial push: “Exchanges with key professional clients will allow us to reach agreements that contribute to the definitive positioning of the operation, through joint promotional activities and a marketing policy that effectively incentivizes and engages tour operators, travel agencies and consolidators, in a timely manner and in accordance with the lead times required for the preparation, promotion and sales processes of the seasons.”

Health and wellness tourism was a clear product focus alongside experiential packages. Delegation materials and discussions at ITB highlighted Cuba’s scientific achievements, the services of Cuban Medical Services, specialized infrastructure and competitive pricing as selling points for medical and wellness visitors. Officials argued that Cuba’s natural environments, highly qualified personnel and biomedical research successes create “promising prospects in health tourism,” targeting German patients and wellness travellers as part of the 2026/27 push.

Industry analysis presented at the fair underscored why the marketing offensive matters. Persistent fuel shortages, frequent power outages, external sanctions and a slow post-COVID recovery continue to “directly affect the visitor experience,” constraining operators’ capacity to scale up despite renewed demand. That structural context explains why Cuban officials combined product diversification with aggressive B2B outreach at ITB and why Friends Touristik and airline partners are treating any resumption or expansion of services cautiously.

Cuba left ITB with concrete next steps: present new seasonal offers to German wholesalers, finalize joint promotions with Friends Touristik and evaluate whether a once-weekly Frankfurt link is operationally viable for summer and winter 2026/27 bookings. With flights trimmed to Wednesdays from April 1, 2026 and partners set to deliberate on incentives and lead times, German tour operators now hold the practical key to how visible Cuba will be on 2026/27 itineraries.