In April of last year, Airbnb announced that it has expanded its service to Cuba to travelers from the United States. The move came after President Barack Obama eased travel restrictions, in place for the past 50 years, which prevented Americans from traveling to Cuba.
The Airbnb expansion to Cuba included more than 1,000 listings, with most of the homes for rent located in Havana. Booking a room through the service, however, came with the restriction that it can only be availed by United States citizens traveling to Cuba.
The restriction, however, is now being lifted, with Airbnb announcing that it will be opening up the listings in the country to visitors from any country beginning April 2.
Airbnb received authorization from the Treasury Department of the United States to be able to offer its service to international travelers. The approval came as President Obama is set to go on an historic three-day trip to the country, to make him the first United States President to visit Cuba since Calvin Coolidge in 1928.
Cuba has carried a policy since the 1990s of allowing residents to rent out their homes through a process named casas particulares. Through the system, travelers to Havana could skip paying for a hotel bill and instead sleep in a room offered by a local family for prices of as low as $30 to $35 nightly.
Airbnb joined the casas particulares process last year, and since then has paired 13,000 guests coming from the United States to rental homes in Cuba.
Airbnb added that about 4,000 homeowners have added their properties to the Airbnb network, making the country the fastest-growing market in the history of the service.
For visitors to Cuba that would prefer to stay in a hotel, it would be good news to know that Starwood Hotels and Resorts has signed deals to become the first American hospitality franchise to operate hotels in Cuba in over a half a century. Starwood will be refurbishing and then managing the Hotel Inglaterra on Parque Central near Old Havana, along with the Hotel Quinta Avenida in upscale Miramar.
Photo: Krystal Cancun | Flickr
