Gran Caribe Experiences 2026 will be in Jardines del Rey

A collaboration by Rachell Cowan Canino

The second edition of Gran Caribe Experiences will be held in 2026 in Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo, confirmed Jesús Pérez Balsa, president of the hotel group, during the closing of the event in Varadero. The executive highlighted that this first edition marked “a turning point” for Cuban tourism and created “a big family” of collaborators.

Pérez Balsa stated that the agreements reached during the four days of the event are already generating concrete projects. He especially thanked the organizing team, the international tour operators, and the participating hotel chains, and announced that the next edition in Jardines del Rey will feature “more time, more organization, and more experience.”

As part of the closing event, Dr. Ernesto Fernández Sánchez, professor at the Higher Institute of Design, ISDI, presented the campaign “Live the Experience, Create Your Story,” developed together with the Stencil Diseño studio and the commercial management of Gran Caribe. The strategy is based on two essential pillars: hotel workers and customer loyalty.

The campaign uses real, unedited photographs and models that represent authentic clients, combining storytelling with sensory marketing to convey the genuine experiences that tourists have in Cuba. It includes materials for social media, websites, printed material for agencies, postcards, and stickers.

Fernández Sánchez emphasized that the campaign turns customers into content creators. The slogan ‘Live the Experience, Create Your Story’ seeks for tourists to share their experiences at Gran Caribe facilities, focusing on the distinctive elements of Cuban culture: colors, flavors, rhythm, and traditions.

The conclusion of this first edition of Gran Caribe Experiences thus established a new paradigm in the Cuban tourism industry: the successful fusion between the human warmth of its employees, the preserved natural beauty of its destinations, and an innovative commercial vision that, through authentic campaigns like ‘Live the Experience, Create Your Story,’ transforms each visitor into an ambassador of the authentic Caribbean essence that only Cuba can offer.