Cuba Ventures Adding Over 4,000 Cuban Private Residence and B&B Listings to its Websites and Booking Platforms
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 31, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cuba Ventures
Corp. (TSX-V:CUV) (OTCBB:MPSFF) (Frankfurt:IJA2) (the "Company") (formerly MPH
Ventures Corp.) is pleased to announce that Travelucion Media is adding an
additional +4,000 Cuban private residences (Casas Particulares) and bed &
breakfasts (B&B's) to its network of Cuba focused websites and booking
platforms. With the addition of these new listings to the current 150 listings,
the Company will have one of the largest listings databases of private
residences and B&B's on the Caribbean island.
Cuba Ventures is one of the first and only publically traded companies in North
America investing in Cuba's unique growth opportunities. Travelucion Media, a
wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, is an online travel and digital media
company that specializes in travel marketing, electronic reservations and online
booking solutions for international visitors to Cuba through its 432 Cuba-
centric websites in five languages which have been promoting Cuba worldwide for
almost two decades.
Steve Marshall, President of Travelucion Media, stated: "This is a significant
development for the Company as it continues to execute on its growth strategy in
the multi-billion dollar Cuba travel industry. With limited hotel beds on the
island, the increasingly popular private residences and B&B's offer travelers
places to stay and a unique way for them to interact with the Cuban People and
Cuban culture. With the addition of over 4,000 listings to our current database
of 150, Cuba Ventures and Travelucion will hold one of the largest and most
diverse databases of these listings while leveraging our unmatched, organic
online traffic to fill these residences."
The 54 year old U.S. trade embargo, including a tourist travel ban the U.S. has
placed on Cuba, restricts the vast majority of American corporations and
travelers from doing business with or visiting Cuba. However, recently there has
been a growing number of Americans travelling to Cuba with the notable
relaxation of travel restrictions allowing Americans to qualify for one of 12
categories for non-touristic travel, permitted under the general license
criteria. There are also a select few American corporations that have obtained
special licenses, through the U.S. Treasury Department, that allow them to
operate in Cuba but these, in the Company's view, are more symbolic in nature
and likely illustrate the building of momentum for the U.S. Congress to
ultimately consider lifting the trade embargo in the future.
Last week, U.S. President Obama and a number of U.S. companies visited Cuba as
the first of a handful of American companies now allowed to operate in Cuba in
over 50 years. President Obama has been instrumental in instigating closer links
between select American companies and Cuba, and some of these recent
developments complement Travelucion Media's rapidly growing business in Cuba.
Travelucion's private residence and bed & breakfast (B&B) division welcomes the
American company Stripe. Stripe will allow Cuban entrepreneurs and B&B owners to
incorporate U.S. businesses, obtain U.S. bank accounts and set up a U.S. Stripe
account to receive payments. Travelucion sees this as a major step towards
streamlining its payments to Cuban private residence and B&B owners, allowing
them to obtain direct payments in the United States for stays by U.S. and
international visitors to Cuba. The surge in private residence and B&B requests
at Travelucion has led the company to accelerate the inclusion of these +4000
nationwide listings across its proprietary booking platform. Cuba Ventures and
Travelucion will now control one of the largest listings databases of this type
for Cuba and will offer the owners of these private homes and B&B's exposure to
the Company's Cuba-centric organic internet traffic consisting of over 30
million annual page views.
To gauge the market, Travelucion initiated a beta test program over the last few
years for private residence and B&B sales in conjunction with hotel room sales
across 78 of its websites. This test phase successfully demonstrated the growing
demand for private residences and B&B's resulting in the company deciding to
expedite the incorporation of additional listings. Of the over 4,000 listings
being added to Travelucion's database and websites, 200 listings of properties
in and around Havana are being added immediately with the remaining listings
being included over the remainder of the year. These are all in addition to
Travelucion's current 150 private residence and B&B listings active on the
websites.
Unlike most other travel suppliers for the Cuban market, visitors to
Travelucion's 432 Cuba related websites and e-commerce booking sites will be
able to complement their private residence and B&B bookings by adding other
services such as car rentals, tours, excursions, airport transfers and other
local services into their customized online shopping carts and make payment for
the entire package and stay. The company offers travelers to Cuba a one-stop-
shop booking system to enhance customer convenience with availability of almost
all locally required vacation complements under a single booking process.
About Cuba Ventures Corp.:
Cuba Ventures Corp. has acquired Travelucion Media, now a wholly owned
subsidiary. Travelucion Media is an online travel digital media company that
specializes in travel marketing, electronic reservations and online booking
solutions for international visitors to Cuba. Travelucion Media owns one of the
most significant portfolios of Cuban focused web assets, through 432 sites in
five languages, which collectively generate over 30 million page-views per year
and direct traffic to the main Travelucion booking site www.Havanatur.com.
For further information on Cuba Ventures Corp. (TSX-V:CUV) or Travelucion Media
visit the Company's website at www.cubaventures.com or www.travelucion.com.
Cuba Ventures Corp. has approx. 61.5 million shares issued and outstanding.
CUBA VENTURES CORP.
« Jim Pettit »
______________________________
JAMES G. PETTIT
President & CEO
For further information contact myself or:
Don Myers
Cuba Ventures Corp.
Director
Telephone: 604-687-3376
Toll Free: 800-567-8181
Facsimile: 604-687-3119
Email: info(at)cubaventures.com
NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER ACCEPTS
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-
looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of
historical facts, that address events or developments that management of the
Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although management believes
the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on
reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future
performance, and actual results or developments may differ materially from those
in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to
update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or
opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include
market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of
capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions.
Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further
information.
This announcement is distributed by GlobeNewswire on behalf of
GlobeNewswire clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and
other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Cuba Ventures Corp. via GlobeNewswire
[HUG#1999232]
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 31.03.2016 - 14:00 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 461021
Anzahl Zeichen: 9183
contact information:
Town:
Vancouver, BC
Kategorie:
Business News
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