HAVANA: President and CEO of Marriott International, Inc., Arne M. Sorenson, states in his blog that this hotel chain is ready to do business in Cuba “starting right now.”
“I just returned from my first visit to Cuba, where I spent several days talking with officials, businessmen, cultural leaders and ordinary citizens. I was not disappointed (…) In the colorful and energetic environment of Havana I found a people desirous of having relations with the United States (…) proud of its past and excited about the future,”Sorense wrote in an article entitled Cuba: ready, set, go!
Sorense explained that “although US law still does not allow Marriott doing business with Cuba, we are ready to start now and we know that the steps taken by President Obama to revive relations with Cuba have created a kind of global run which involves business from other countries to leave as little as possible for US companies when the current restrictions are completely eliminated.”
Sorense argues in his article that US companies should have the permission to “at least be able to compete for all this new travel business to Cuba,” where, in addition to “contribute to a stronger relationship between the two countries”, the hotels under its Administration will employ “hundreds, thousands of Cubans,” and at the same time could receive thousands of American visitors.
