Priceline, Cuba Agree Deal On Hotel Bookings

Priceline has agreed with Cuba to make Cuban hotel rooms available to US customers via subsidiary Booking.com, becoming the first US online travel agency to strike a deal with the island state.

The deal comes on the first full day of US President Barack Obama’s visit to Cuba and after Starwood Hotels' agreement with the Cuban government to manage and market three Havana hotel properties.

Booking.com would allow Americans visiting Cuba to reserve and pay for rooms at a number of Cuban and foreign hotels, starting in several weeks.

Americans previously had to reserve Cuban hotels principally through travel agencies or tour groups.

Booking.com would operate initially in Cuba only in Havana, Dunlap said. It planned to work with foreign firms already on the island, including France's Accor and Spanish chains Meliá Hotels and NH Hotels. It was also working on deals with state-run Cuban chains.

The only major American lodging booking service currently available to Americans going to Cuba is online home-rental marketplace Airbnb, which began operating in Cuba in April last year.