Who is Cuban Adventures?
Cuban Adventures is the main product of the Australian travel company Big Planet Adventures Pty Ltd.
Our Story
In 2005, Cuban Adventures set out with the objective of providing quality small group tour services in Cuba using local Cuban tour guides. We decided to focus on what makes Cuba special, and interesting to the visitor, which (in our opinion) is Cuba's unique society and culture. Using the system of casas particulares (small family run guesthouses) was a perfect fit for this objective. Also essential to the formula was using local Cuban tour guides who would be able to provide the specialist knowledge to our travellers about Cuba, its culture, history, and society. The tours proved very popular and we grew from a team of 2 tour guides in 2005, to one of more than 40 at last count.
Big Planet Adventures Pty Ltd
- Australian Business Number - ABN 15154669360
- Accredited Member of the Australian Federation of Travel Agents (ATIA) – A17177
- Member of the Council of Australian Tour Operators (CATO) - 55579588
- Represented in the USA by Big Planet Adventures US, LLC (USA), 20150641039
- Incorporated in the UK as Big Planet Adventures Ltd (CRN 15574895)
- Licensed to operate in Cuba through MINTUR (the Ministry of Tourism) and the Camera de Comercio (Chamber of Commerce)
Our Passion
is providing authentic cultural experiences of Cuba through our award winning small group tours. We dedicate ourselves exclusively to Cuba, which means we are truly specialized in this unique country. We believe this is our main strength.
We also provide other travel services in Cuba to complement our tours to make sure our travellers are fully catered to in Cuba when they require it.
Our Focus
is client satisfaction, first and foremost. If our customers are happy, we have achieved what we set out to do. This is our prime motivator and what nourishes our day-to-day work.
Our Philosophy
a better world is possible! By practicing Responsible Tourism we strive to enhance the lives of all of our workers and partner service providers while providing amazing, life-changing experiences for our travellers.
Leadership
We were one of the first tour operators in Cuba to employ local Cuban tour guides as our tour leaders and combine this with accommodation in small local family owned guesthouses. To this day this is at the heart of what we do best. It’s what allows us to provide a much richer local experience for our travellers. We are also leading the way in Cuba with our plastic waste elimination initiative.
Our Guiding Principal
Running our Cuba tours in a socially and environmentally responsible way is paramount to us. Knowing that we have a positive impact on the people and the environment in Cuba is not just a business policy but something that we deeply care about. We work hard to ensure all of our staff and service providers in Cuba also buy into this objective and adopt our responsible travel policy.
Memberships & Pledges
We meet the standards of quality and professionalism to be granted ATAS accreditation as a Tour Operator by ATIA. ATAS is an industry benchmark set by ATIA who act as a travel industry watchdog in Australia. Through our ATIA membership we are provided business support, professional advice, representation in government affairs, education, and training.
CATO members must adhere to the highest standards in development and delivery of global travel products. They pledge to conduct their business with integrity and agree to act in accordance with the principles of the CATO Members Code of Conduct.
We have been approved by responsibletravel.com as an organisation that actively practices the principles of responsible travel in all of its activities. Responsible Travel aims to help re-invent the tourism industry for the long-term benefit of local people, the environment, tourists and the tourism industry. The entire premise of its business is to market and distribute more responsible holidays, thereby creating more jobs for local people, greater income for local people and increased benefits for conservation, whilst at the same time minimising negative impacts on local environments and cultures.
TIES is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting ecotourism. It is a global network of ecotourism travellers, professionals and organizations, making tourism a tool for conservation, protection of bio-cultural diversity, and sustainable community development. Their mission is to Engage, Empower and Inspire us all. You can become a TIES traveller member on their website.
TAP's goal is to encourage travellers to clean their own water while traveling, and in doing-so, avoid the disposal of billions of plastic water bottles around the world each year. The TAP website provides information about different portable water cleaning devices that you can take traveling with you to Cuba.
As part of our commitment to a better world, we are proud of our membership to pledge1percent.org. This is an organisation that encourages businesses to donate at least 1% of their income, profits, and/or time to charities. Our pledge is that we donate 5% of our company profits. See a list of the organisations we actively donate to.
We took the UNESCO Sustainable Travel Pledge which means we publicly commit to actions that will protect local culture and reduce the environmental impact of our business as well as helping our travellers make more sustainable travel choices. The UNESCO Sustainable Travel Pledge aims to promote sustainable travel, community resilience and heritage conservation globally.
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