By Jay Amberg Lifestyles. Mon, 25 Jun 2001, 6:36am EDT.
Bloomberg.com
Havana, June 21 -- A Havana hotel has launched a new advertising campaign
encouraging visitors to "feel, see and hear'' Cuba instead of spending
their days lounging on a hotel beach or at poolside, according to Granma, Cuba's
state newspaper.
Pablo Mateos, general manager of Havana's Melia Habana, said the hotel has
created a new advertising campaign devoted to the Cuban environment, its art and
culture rather than on the hotel property itself.
"We've changed the image of a hotel room and a swimming pool to the
image of an 80-year-old woman lighting a Cuban cigar in Old Havana alongside a
bicycle with a spray of flowers, where Havana, its music, the Malecon (Havana's
Oceanside promenade), all its (Cuba's) cultural treasures, but primarily Havana,
can be deeply inhaled,'' Mateos said.
The hotel manager said he wants to create an image at the Melia Habana that
encourages visitors to leave the hotel and spend time exploring Havana's culture
centers, music clubs, cigar stores, restaurants and old Spanish forts.
"It is worthwhile not marketing the establishment (the hotel) in
itself, but its surroundings, given that the culture and traditions are what
today's clients are really asking for,'' Mateos said.
Mateos said the Melia Habana has 409 rooms including four suites and 12
junior suites. There are also 10 stores, including a cigar shop, and 10
cigar-friendly restaurants and bars.
"Every weekend, through an agreement with the Cuban Cultural
Foundation, there is usually a visual arts exhibition in the hotel, which allows
many clients to admire and buy works of Cuban art,'' Mateos said.
According to Mateos, the hotel also has Cuban musicians playing Cuban music.
"We want people to spend unforgettable honeymoons here, too, but Havana
has also become an important cultural and business destination in the
Caribbean,'' Mateos said.
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