Cuba’s Self-Employed Enter the Tourism Industry

Cuba's Self-Employed Enter the Tourism Industry

October 17, 2013

Private Restaurants Authorized to Sell Rum and Cocktails

By Cafe Fuerte



HAVANA TIMES — Last week, the Cuban government formally announced that

tourism companies and agencies will now be authorized to enter into

contracts directly with private businesses licensed to operate

accommodations, restaurants and other establishments.



The measure, which had been advanced by the Ministry of Tourism last

April, became legally effective through Resolution 145/2013, published

in Cuba's Official Gazette on September 24.



The announcement is being made on the eve of Cuba's high tourism season,

as part of an initiative aimed at increasing the number of visitors to

the island beyond the figure of three million. In this connection, the

private sector is being called on to complement State activities aimed

at attracting tourism to the country.



Payments in Cuban Convertible Pesos



The new legislation makes it possible for those who rent out their homes

and rooms, the owners of cafeterias and restaurants, the self-employed

who offer tours on horse-driven coaches and vintage automobiles and

those who organize excursions around the country to enter into contracts

with State travel agencies and to thus offer their services directly to

tourists.



Payments shall be made in hard currency (Cuban Convertible Pesos, CUCs)

or their equivalent in regular Cuban pesos (CUP). The CUC is worth just

over a US dollar. These payments shall always be effected through the

established financial mechanisms, chiefly bank transfers, excluding

cash. According to the resolution, the self-employed must have a bank

account in CUCs to enter into these contracts.



The contracts must be approved by the Ministry of Tourism at the

pertinent level, in consideration of the amount being negotiated.

Contracts for services of up to 1,000 CUC will be approved by local

company branches and those for more than 1,000 CUC at the national

level. Those contracts whose value exceeds that of 4,000 CUC shall

require the approval of the central branch and government budgetary

entities.



According to official statistics, Cuba currently has over 1,700

privately-run restaurants, some 4,280 rooms for rent and over 700 homes

licensed to lodge tourists.



Bricklayers and Carpenters Needed



Over 436,342 licenses for private businesses have been issued around the

country, chiefly in the food preparation and transportation sectors.



The new legislation will allow entities attached to the Ministry of

Tourism to hire the self-employed (and to pay these workers in CUC) in

28 different service sectors approved by the government, including

bricklayers, carpenters, locksmiths, glaziers, electricians, plumbers,

kitchen and mattress repair people, upholsterers and furniture painters,

pitmen, roofers and maintenance personnel.



In connection with the hiring of these services, State companies

offering camping locations and services for the population shall be

entitled to pay only in Cuban pesos.



Entities in the tourism sector that continue to offer lunch services to

their employees at State cafeterias will be authorized to hire private

caterers and to pay for these services in CUC, provided such expenses

have been approved in the company budget.



The legislation establishes that travel agency officials must visit

private restaurants and cafeterias in order to inspect them and

determine whether their food services meets quality standards before

entering into the said contracts.



Rum, Cigarettes and Cigars



Cuba's Official Gazette also published another legislative reform

authorizing broader private services, the Ministry of Trade's Resolution

305/2013, authorizing the sale of alcoholic beverages, cigarettes and

cigars at private restaurants and cafeterias.



The legislation was signed this past October 1 and took immediate effect.



The published document acknowledges that "the quality of the services

offered by cafeterias authorized to sell rum had been undermined by

excluding other alcoholic beverages from the list of permitted drinks."



"The norms currently governing the management of self-employed

businesses that rent out locales for food and related services must be

brought up to date," the new regulations state, which seeks to adjust

the existing legislation to the country's current economic conditions.



In addition to beer, private restaurants and cafeterias will now be

authorized to offer other alcoholic beverages, such as cocktails, rum,

wine and liquor.



Source: "Cuba's Self-Employed Enter the Tourism Industry - Havana

Times.org" - http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=99445