ACTA Advocacy and Support Following Cuba Service Suspensions

ACTA is closely monitoring the recent decisions by Air Canada, Air Transat, and WestJet to suspend service to Cuba and is assessing the impact on our member travel agencies and travel advisors and your clients.

 

The withdrawal of service to Cuba by multiple Canadian carriers is creating immediate and significant disruption. Cuba has long been an important and well-served destination for Canadian travellers, and these sudden changes mean thousands of clients are now facing rebookings, destination changes, or cancellations.

 

We recognize the significant workload this creates for you. Reaccommodating travellers at scale requires coordination among airlines, tour operators, hotels, and insurance providers, placing additional operational and service pressures on travel agencies and travel advisors across the country during an already busy season.

 

ACTA is actively calling on airline and supplier partners to ensure clear, timely communication, flexible policies, and the full protection of travel agency and travel advisor commissions. In what remains a volatile operating environment, it is critical that the time, expertise, and professional services you provide in supporting Canadian travellers are recognized as commissionable work and appropriately protected.

 

Equally important is the availability of high-quality self-service tools that allow you to efficiently manage changes, access inventory, process refunds, and complete rebookings directly within booking platforms—rather than spending hours on hold. Robust digital servicing capabilities are essential to enabling you to support clients quickly and effectively.

 

These priorities are not new. They are outlined in ACTA’s Travel Agency and Travel Advisor “ASKs” – Supplier Best Practices, which are well known to our partners and suppliers. During periods of disruption, adherence to these best practices is essential to ensuring you can continue to operate efficiently and serve your clients professionally.

 

We also encourage members to remind clients of the value of comprehensive travel insurance. Unexpected destination changes highlight the importance of appropriate coverage, and your expertise remains critical in guiding travellers toward the right protection for their needs.

 

ACTA continues to advocate on your behalf to ensure that the expertise and time dedicated to supporting Canadian travellers during disruptions are recognized, protected, and appropriately compensated. ACTA members remain the backbone of Canada’s retail travel industry. We will continue to monitor developments closely and will keep members informed as this situation evolves.