The Excelencias group joined hands with world-class German tour operator Meier's Weltreisen to provide extensive news coverage of the company's "Welcome to Cuba" Mega Fam Trip that stretched from September 12 thru 21 in this Caribbean destination with the participation of the 100 bestselling travel agencies of the year.

Our Caribbean News Digital newsletter's issue in German language kept tabs on the developments of this incentive journey by posting chronicles, feature reports of the visited places, a vast gallery of digital photos for surfers to get a virtual look at the whole event, as well as the opinions of the participating travel agents, incoming agents, partners and organizers. The CND newsletter's issues in English, Spanish and Portuguese also covered the Mega Fam Trip in a more limited way.

For this occasion, our group organized the Meier's Top 100 - Excelencias Contest targeting participating travel agencies, plus candidates and official attendants to the Mega Fam Trip. The upshots will be published soon and the winner will get a free stay for two at one of the hotels visited by the group.

Just ten days on this Caribbean island nation were good enough for Meier's one hundred guests. Meier's, that happens to be one of Europe's top tour operators, picked the island for a firsthand glimpse at it as a travel destination. The participating travel agents were broken down in four groups in a bid to provide broader coverage of the country's major circuits and sightseeing spots.

Havana, Pinar del Rio, Matanzas, Varadero, Topes de Collantes, Trinidad, Holguin and Cuba's northern offshore keys were close at hand for the "Welcome to Cuba" fam trip, a pilgrimage packed with business meetings and the chance to take a closer look at the products that Meier's offers its customers.

Hotels, tours that combine nature, history and adventure, specialty packages, coupled with the traditional sun-and-sand offers were at the disposal of the Meier's guests, thanks in part to the help of local and foreign hoteliers and tour operators such as Gaviota, Gran Caribe, Habaguanex, Occidental, Oasis, Sol Melia, Barcelo and SuperClubs, among others.

Caribbean News Digital newsletter dispatched a photographer and a reporter to each of the four groups in an effort to provide extensive news coverage of the grand tour, including pictures and opinions of attendants to this Mega Fam Trip. All of them came back home convinced of the many conveniences and undisputed attractions this travel destination has to offer, as well as better prepared to sell it on the European market, especially in Germany.

According to Martina Beeken, Meier's Weltreisen Director for Central America, South America, the Caribbean and Other World Regions, "this familiarization trip ratifies Cuba's stance as a special and safe travel destination Meier's Weltreisen will continue to put its smart money on in the future because it has lots of things to offer for the German market."

At the end of this event, the Excelencias Group put together a multimedia CD with the familiarization trip's memoirs, a product that will not only serve as a keepsake, but also as a promotional effort for the destination. For our company in its tenth anniversary, the news coverage of the 2007 Meier's Mega Fam Trip gave us an opportunity to strengthen our commitment to the advance of tourism in the entire Caribbean region