How I Ended Up in Nashville

From a hot summer day to snow in one day...

Sheyla Paz at her home in santiago de Cuba, 1999

You may wonder how I ended up in Nashville, TN... Well, here it is! 

I studied music in Cuba and worked as a singer/güiro player/manager of a group in Havana, and we were performing at the Riviera Hotel 4 nights a week. One day around mid-afternoon I was transporting the instruments to the hotel for our performance that night, and when I walked out into the front porch of the hotel, there he was, my future husband, staring at me. He didn’t speak Spanish, and I didn’t speak English 🤔
He went back to visit me several times over a two year period, and the first time he went back to visit me after nine months since we have met, he was bragging about being a salsa dancer, and I didn’t believe him until he said: “let me show you.” He didn’t like the Cuban style of salsa dancing so; I adjusted myself to his dance style. I didn't mind learning the new method, for me, it was easy to learn because dancing and salsa rhythms are in my blood. No matter what type of music, we dance to enjoy the music.

One day, he was in Cuba while I was trying to get a visa to visit him in the USA and he saw the long line of people under the hot sun trying to get on the list for an interview with the American Embassy (United States Interest Section back then). He thought that it was ridiculous to do that and went into the embassy and asked about how I could visit him here and they said to him that the only option for us was a Fiancee visa. So, that night he decided that he wanted to do that. He applied for the visa here in the USA, and six months later I received a letter to go for an interview, and it was granted. That was one of the best days of my life. I came to Nashville a few days before Christmas so in Cuba was still a hot day and when I arrived in Nashville around 9 pm and it was snowing... I was freezing, and it was my first time seeing snow.
Salsa dancing is a huge part of our lives and make it a priority to go out once a week and dance the night away.

Cuba talks at the ASTA Global Convention

On the week of August 20th-23rd, we went to the ASTA Global Convention in Washington, DC where we were able to learn about the travel industry, meet other travel advisors, vendors and network. During the convention, there was a Cuba update educational session. I was very excited about it and met John McAuliff who was one of the speakers on the panel. What did we learn on this panel? Nothing, we already knew everything they said, but it was great to solidify what we already knew and felt confident about the information we are providing you.

It's still possible to go to Cuba

The President announced in June 2016 made it seem hard but the licenses to travel to Cuba did not change much. All types of purposeful travel authorized by President Obama remain legal. Travel with groups or on cruises is entirely unchanged. Independent travel by individuals, families, and friends is also mostly unchanged but now falls under the rewritten license category of "Support for the Cuban People" instead of People to People. Also, the group travel falls under "People to People Group Travel" license. The International Tourism Fair in Madrid judged Cuba as the "Safest Destination in the World."

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Maricely Valdes, Isamary Cantero and Sheyla Paz at the ASTA Global Convention

ASTA Name & Logo Changed

The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) unveiled its brand new logo at the ASTA Global Convention in Washington, D.C. Wednesday.
The new look comes after the organization announced a rebranding and reorganization effort earlier this month that included a notable name change, with ASTA dropping "agents" in favor of "advisors."

Wednesday's logo reveal is accompanied by a major consumer awareness campaign featuring the tagline "We'll Take You There" and several enhancements to ASTA's agent-finding tool, TravelSense.org, including a new live chat feature.
ASTA is working with Virginia-based PR firm Reingold on the campaign.

TravelPulse spoke with ASTA President and CEO, Zane Kerby, earlier this August following a year-long research study to uncover the best descriptor. "Travel advisor shot to the top in terms of what consumers think and feel they need. They need the advice and the advisory services," he said.
"We are taking this opportunity to reintroduce travel advisors to the traveling public," Kerby added.
The name change is ASTA's first in decades and will also see its subsidiary, the National Association of Career Travel Agents (NACTA), become the ASTA Small Business Network. The ultimate goal is to bring the two organizations closer together to maximize on the community's potential.
For more information on AMERICAN SOCIETY OF TRAVEL AGENTS (ASTA)
Check out ASTA branding campaign video here: https://youtu.be/FF1iEGviWAI

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New Partnerships

During the ASTA Global Convention we were able to make some partnerships to help us serve you better. We have joined TripPro.com a revolutionary cloud based travel agency platform with complete turnkey solution for agencies including automated ticketing and support, mid-office tools, chargeback management, integrated marketing CRM. With this partner we'll be able to issue plane tickets and hotel bookings. However, it does not includes hotels or flights to Cuba. We are working on getting another partner to provide you with that service as well. 

Many of you have asked me whether we offer other tours besides Cuba, now we do with our partner Firebird Tours with tours to over 37 destinations in Europe (and beyond) and the best thing is, the itineraries can easily combine many countries in one tour.

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Don't delay and book TODAY!

Tours are booking fast and there are only 4 months left in the year... Check out our 2019 Cuba Tour dates and start planing today. We are just an email or a phone call away and always able to help. Have a wonderful Labor Day and to help you celebrate it, here is a 15% discount for your next Cuba Tour. The discount will be available for two weeks only. 
Free premium beverage package for two when booking a balcony or above. Available on select cruises and cruisetours sailing Summer 2019 to Spring 2020 to ALL destinations.

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