VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cuba Ventures Corp. (TSX-V:CUV) (OTCBB:MPSFF) (Frankfurt:IJA2) (the “Company”) is pleased to announce that Vito Echevarria has agreed to join the Company’s Cuba Advisory Board. Mr. Echevarria brings over 19 years of journalistic knowledge on Cuba and will work with management to expand the Company’s corporate and public exposure for its investment, online travel and the Travelucion Media digital marketing business, as well as broadening North American market penetration, promotion and exposure.

Cuba ventures would also like to bring to your attention two recent interviews conducted by CEO, Steve Marshall. Canada’s BNN Market One Minute interviewed Mr. Marshall and is airing the clip throughout the month of July. As well, USA's channel ABC 7 New York’s program, Tiempo, conducted a two part interview with Mr. Marshall and Mr. Vito Echevarria, outlining travel tips for those venturing to Cuba for the first time and emphasizing the quickly changing travel landscape in Cuba.

Vito Echevarria Becomes a Cuba Ventures Advisor

Vito Echevarria is a New York-based journalist who graduated from Fordham University with a B.A. in Political Science, while later attending courses at the University Of Miami School Of Law. Vito Echevarria specializes in Cuba’s foreign investment landscape.  Vito first visited Havana in 1996 to cover the island's emerging biotechnology sector for América Economía, a Dow Jones business monthly magazine based in Santiago, Chile. 

Since then, Vito has written extensively for the Miami-based publication CubaNews (now CubaStandard) -- covering Cuba’s de-facto transition from Marxism to state-controlled capitalism, while profiling a variety of foreign companies and entrepreneurs vested in Cuba’s; energy, real estate, information technology, hospitality, agribusiness, tourism, and numerous other sectors.

American media has embraced Vito’s unique and informed writing style, allied to his profound knowledge of Cuba. As such, various publications such as Wired, Business 2.0, The Industry Standard and a myriad of other magazines engaged him for pieces on the island. In the early 2000s Vito covered the emerging e-commerce scene, foreign investors seeking opportunities in Havana, as well as culture & arts. In April 2000, Vito co-wrote a feature for The Industry Standard about Canadian high-tech companies making an entrance into Cuba.

With American President Bill Clinton exempting food exports from Washington’s ongoing trade embargo against Cuba in 2000, Vito covered U.S. agribusiness firms that were conducting brisk commerce with Havana for both CubaNews and Global Trade magazines.  One such Global Trade feature profiled the Cuban food buying agency ALIMPORT and its role in importing various American food & agricultural goods, while another highlighted Chicago entrepreneur Paul Johnson’s efforts to normalize U.S.-Cuba trade through his Washington lobbying arm, USACC (U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba).

President Obama’s easing of travel and trade with Cuba has placed Mr Echevarria in the media limelight across the US, having been invited as a guest on RT News (Russian English language news network) and New York’s ABC Channel 7 earlier this year. In November 2015 Vito covered the International Trade Fair of Havana (FIHAV), and its significance in expanding commerce between Cuba, USA, and other countries like Brazil.

In addition, Vito has also written about Cuba for CNBC European Business, Trader Monthly, DealMaker and Ocean Drive magazines, as well as for the London investment newsletter Latin American Economy & Business.

Mr Echevarria brings 19 years of substantial Cuba-centric journalistic & American media experience to Cuba Ventures. In his new role at Cuba Ventures he will be involved in the dissemination of current affairs, the rapidly changing investment opportunities in Cuba and North American development of the Cuba Ventures; investment, travel and media business divisions.

Cuba Ventures in the News

The BNN interview can be seen here:

http://www.bnn.ca/video/steve-marshall-of-cuba-ventures-corp-interviewed-on-market-one-minute~905561

The two parts of ABC 7 New York’s Tiempo program interview can be seen here:

http://abc7ny.com/news/tiempo-on-july-10-2016-part-3/1417333/

http://abc7ny.com/news/tiempo-on-july-10-2016-part-4/1417334/

Cuba Ventures Grants Options

The Company announces that options to purchase up to 1,300,000 common shares of the Company were granted today to officers, directors, employees and consultants of the Company with an exercise price of $0.05 per share. The options have been granted pursuant to the Company’s 10% rolling stock option plan and will expire five years from the date of grant.

About Cuba Ventures Corp.:

Cuba Ventures Corp. is a publicly traded Canadian company capitalizing on the growth and unique opportunities in the USD $3.5 billion per year Cuban travel and tourism industry. Travelucion Media, a wholly owned subsidiary, is a digital media and marketing company which owns a vast portfolio of Cuba related websites and online portals providing travel information, featuring individual Web assets for Cuba's popular cities and towns, online booking solutions and online reservations through proprietary software, catering to international visitors to Cuba. Travelucion's online travel division is a duly licensed retail travel supplier handling millions of dollars in sales annually.

Travelucion's 432 Cuba focused multilingual websites generate over 30 million page-views per year, directing traffic to the company's online booking and e-commerce sites. These online websites cover all facets of Cuba including over 80 travel destinations, hotels & resorts, bed & breakfast, tours, car rentals, restaurants, as well as Cuban culture, history, music, celebrities, sports, medical treatments and more.

Travelucion's revenues have been rapidly growing in the wake of the notable shift in American policy towards Cuba. With diplomatic relations now normalized and restrictions on qualified American travel to Cuba relaxed, opening of the multi-billion dollar travel market to the Caribbean nation is becoming a reality. During the month of July 2016 Travelucion has experienced daily sales of up-to 29k Canadian dollars as the popularity of Cuba skyrockets worldwide. Two blockbuster Hollywood movies, Transformers and Fast and Furious, are the latest in string of American movies to have been filmed in picturesque Havana. Travelucion's continued media dominance, over the past two decades, has provided Cuba Ventures Corp. with a competitive advantage in the burgeoning Cuba travel space. With the relaxing of rules for American travelers to Cuba and the potential of further easing, growth and investment opportunities are on the rise in Cuba.

For further information on Cuba Ventures Corp. (TSX-V:CUV) or Travelucion Media visit the Company’s website at http://www.CubaVentures.com or http://www.Travelucion.com/.

Jim Pettit

Chairman

CUBA VENTURES CORP. 
Suite 1610, 777 Dunsmuir Street
Vancouver, BC, V7Y 1K4 
Tel: (604) 639-3850 
TF: (800) 567-8181
Web: www.cubaventures.com 
Email: info@cubaventures.com

Primary Logo