Jumping ahead of the airlines and hotel chains, Airbnb has opened its first list of lodgings available in Cuba, mostly rooms in existing "Casas Particulares," which are private rentals of rooms in homes. Airbnb, famous for "disrupting" the lodging industry in general, says that this is a non-disruptive entry into Cuba because it works with existing structures.
Of course, starting to do business in Cuba has other issues, including many hosts who have no internet service and who operate on cash. Airbnb's advance agents had to build a network of intermediaries to manage listings, and a licensed funds remitter to pay the hosts in cash.
There are about 1000 listings in the first group, mostly clustered in Havana. Bloomberg News for MORE
Photo: Airbnb Room: $27/night
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