Airbnb's Cuba gambit shows promise as US relations warm

Bogota

AS an infant, Carlos Jimenez survived a US-backed invasion of his south Cuban village, the infamous failed coup at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. Today, Mr Jimenez is expecting another American invasion - of tourists - as he awaits the chance to list his home on Airbnb.

"I never had the chance to visit the US, so I'm looking forward to them coming here," he said by his green one-storey house, lamenting that his village of Playa Giron still lacks Internet access for the reservation and payment system of the online home-sharing startup.

With Wednesday's announcement by the US and Cuba that they will reopen embassies this month, the one-time enemies took a major step closer to normalised relations, and Airbnb Inc is poised to capitalise on its early entry into the market. After starting operations on the island in April, the company has sought ways of working in a country where the government regulates nearly every aspect of life, US credit cards aren't accepted and online payments barely exist.

But by planting its flag early, the San Francisco-based company says it is seeing results. Cuba is now its fastest growing market, co-founder Brian Chesky said in May. The number of Airbnb guest homes in Cuba has more than doubled to over 2,000.

One of them is Casa Colonial 1830, a hostel run by Yosvaldo Saroza, who charges US$30 a night. Payment, which in most of the world comes electronically, arrives in cash through a travel agency, Vacuba, that hand delivers it until online payments can be established.

While the rest of the world has had ties with Cuba for decades, the US embargo has limited the ability of Americans to vacation there. Many of those who do come are on officially sanctioned trips, licensed by the US Treasury Department. BLOOMBERG