Specialist tour operator Captivating Cuba which holds the ATOL has announced the closure of the agency after 25 years of operation.
The Civil Aviation Authority announced that the company, based in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, failed on Friday. Effective this, the carrier’s website was still operating early today with no sign of a problem, but its phone line was not accepting calls.
CAA said: “We are currently collating information from the company and will update this page as soon as possible. If you are a travel agent of Captivating Cuba and you are currently holding consumer payments which you have not yet paid to Captivating Cuba, you must not use these funds to refund consumers until you have received instructions from the Air Travel Trust. Travel agents will be individually contacted by the Civil Aviation Authority with specific instructions for these bookings.”
Captivating Cuba director Matthew O’Sullivan insisted in December that it was “business as usual” for the operator after Tui confirmed it was dropping direct flights from Manchester to Varadero in Cuba at the end of April.
He said at the time: “We’ve worked solely with Cuba for more than 25 years as a dedicated specialist and have seen many UK airlines and travel companies come and go, but travel demand for the island always remains high and enthusiasm from our customers hasn’t wavered. It’s business as usual.”
Captivating Cuba described itself on its website as “a totally independent and fully Atol bonded boutique specialist tour operator, with more than 30 years’ experience providing high-quality tailormade travel to Cuba and beyond.
“Our offices are based in Hertfordshire, UK and Havana, Cuba and we also have our own staff based in France and Spain, and throughout Cuba.
“We are experienced and large enough to have our own Havana office and staff throughout Cuba, but we are small enough to know our customers and travel agents individually by name and spend time on each booking fine tuning the details and adding our special touches” Director said. 
