People who prefer to use the online home-rental service Airbnb when traveling can now add Cuba to their list of potential destinations.
Airbnb announced on Thursday that travelers can now stay at one of the over 1,000 listings if they are visiting Cuba.
Operating in 190 counties and 34,000 cities globally, adding Cuba to its listings is arguably Airbnb's biggest expansion. For the past 50 years, a U.S. trade embargo has restricted Americans from traveling to Cuba.
After President Obama eased travel restrictions back in January, aiming to restore ties with Cuba, American travelers can now "have the chance to experience Cuban hospitality at homes across the island."
As of this week, hosts in Cuba will list over 1,000 of their homes on Airbnb. ¡Saludos! https://t.co/ciufq5Jpyx pic.twitter.com/unJzv3DF5B
— Airbnb (@Airbnb) April 2, 2015
Most of the 1,000 listings are in Havana, with rooms at low rates such as a $34 per night stay at Home Lunass, which offers a private room with bathroom and free breakfast within walking distance to Old Havana.
Other locations include the tourist destination Cienfuegos and Trinidad, the UNESCO World Heritage Site with prices as low as $15.
"We believe that Cuba could become one of Airbnb's biggest markets in Latin America," says regional director for Airbnb, Kay Kuehne. "We are actually plugging into an existing culture of micro-enterprise in Cuba. The hosts in Cuba have been doing for decades what we just started doing seven years ago."
But of course booking a Airbnb room in Cuba comes with some restrictions. The only travelers who can book a room will be U.S. citizens who are visiting Cuba under the authorized travel, which includes for journalistic purposes, religious activities, humanitarian projects, public performances and athletic competitions.
Then there's the fact that only four percent of Cuban homes have access to the internet. To solve this problem, Airbnb is using locals to help manage listing and make connections.
Cubans who put a room available on the home-rental site also want to get paid in cash, a payment option not part of Airbnb's policy. The site is using a licensed money remitter company VaCuba to solve this problem.
Travelers experiencing Cuban culture and choose to stay in a casa particulares may be shocked to find that many Cuban homes don't have hot water, but other listings including top dollar amenities like maid service and being close to the beach —all for a reasonable price.
The Airbnb Cuban expansion aims to bring economic growth to local businesses while preserving the Cuban culture.
Airbnb is not the only site expanding into Cuba. Netflix announced it would expand its steaming service to the country as well. American Express and MasterCard are also letting customers use their cards when traveling in Cuba.
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Photo: Anton Novoselov | Flickr
