TORONTO — Many Canadian travellers accustomed to wallet-friendly package prices for Cuba travel – and to booking last-minute – are getting a wakeup call as prices surge for other Caribbean destinations this winter.

It’s classic supply-and-demand, but try telling that to clients who see their package price more than double (per person!) over the course of a day.

As Robert Townshend, President of Toronto-based Total Advantage Travel & Tours, relayed to Travelweek: “I quoted a [tour operator] package to Mexico for $1,601 per person. By the end of the day it was $3,300 per person.”

Michelle Whalen with Michelle Whalen Travel by Uniglobe Enterprise Travel Ltd. in London, ON, said she’s seen soaring package prices too. “I was looking for clients and I told them a starting price of $2,500 per person. But [now] it seems to be at least $500 or $600 higher per person.”

Whalen’s clients wanted a shoulder season getaway, mid-April onwards. “They really want to go away so they’re accepting the price. But this is why clients need to book early, months out, and not last-minute. You’ve had a bunch of people who had to cancel Cuba and then scramble to get something else booked right away at the last minute, so there’s less inventory in the market, which drives the demand up. I wish clients would listen to us and stop booking last-minute, pursuing this myth of a last-minute deal. You really do get your best pricing early out.”

“WE HAVE NOT CHANGED OUR MARGIN STRATEGY AT ALL”

The silver lining, if there is one, is that Canadians are refusing to give up on their travel plans. They’re just changing their destinations. “I’ve not had a lot of clients just give up and say ‘OK we’re not affording to go away.’ It’s been a brutal winter and I really haven’t seen a drop in sales despite the pricing,” said Whalen.

About 750,000 Canadians head to Cuba in a normal year, and the suspension of service to Cuba by Canada’s airlines and tour operators came during the height of the winter travel season, after Cuba warned of refuelling stoppages for international airlines.

Plus, as the travel industry knows – but as consumers might forget – Canada isn’t Cuba’s only inbound market. We’re certainly the biggest, but Canadians aren’t the only ones now looking for alternate getaways, making the situation even tighter.

A report yesterday from CTV News highlighted the price jumps.

While there’s finger pointing for the price increases, those supply-and-demand vacation package pricing fluctuations may be fuelled less by the tour operators than consumers might think.

As ACV’s VP, Nino Montagnese, told Travelweek: “Today over 90% of hotels are directly connected to our suppliers. They revenue manage their product based on the available rooms they have left. We have not changed our margin strategy at all. The benefit of being connected is you have live inventory, but what comes with that is live pricing as well.”

The industry has always urged early booking for the best prices. Asked about March Break and the remaining weeks of winter 2026, Montagnese bolstered the message that agents have been telling their clients for years: “I honestly suggest if the customer is looking for something, not to wait. Inventory is limited and prices do go up.”

Meanwhile Transat spokesperson Marie-Eve Vallières told Travelweek: “We have not made any changes to our promotional approach for South packages. Our pricing strategies evolve according to an established schedule and based on demand across our entire network. Moreover, Transat and Air Transat are launching today their February sales – a campaign that has been planned for several weeks – which will offer attractive deals on packages and flights to the South and Europe.”

She added that Transat has also added capacity to several destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico, to allow travellers affected by the cancellations to Cuba to rebook their sun vacations.

Transat’s repatriation of its Cuba travellers is expected to wrap up today.