By Portia Siegelbaum, CBS News, May 30, 2012
HAVANA -- As Cuba restructures its economy, the limited
private sector is claiming more public space, even making it into the new
edition of the state-owned phone company's Yellow Pages.
It's a sign that private enterprise is here to stay. This phone
directory, for the first time, has 12 pages of listings and advertisements for
non-state businesses: From bed and breakfasts, restaurants and photo studios,
to party planners, electricians and florists.
For $10, small mom & pop companies get a listing with their
company name, address and phone number. But well-established enterprises such
as the "Monte Barreto Bar--Restaurant" paid bigger bucks -- about
$1,300 -- and took full page color ads. La Guarida, a private restaurant
popular with tourists, took a half-page ad at a cost of approximately $800. But
there are also large ads for beauty salons and gyms, and photo studios
specializing in weddings and other social events.
Cubans wanting granite stairs, tiles, floors or countertops will focus
in on an ad by Yovany, who offers free delivery.
There's a listing for a pet hotel and three listings for swimming pool
rentals, and even more for those offering rural settings with amenities for
weddings and birthday parties.
In a country where billboard advertising is non-existent, the
possibility of marketing in the Yellow Pages is a boom to Cuba's new private
entrepreneurs. And it also represents revenues for the State.
In the absence of other advertising possibilities some private
restaurants have been sending text messages or e-mails. A fairly new Indian
restaurant, Bollywood, is one of the most persistent text senders. La Casa,
whose owner Alejandro Robaina missed the deadline to place an ad in the Yellow
Pages, sent out an e-mail earlier this week announcing the return of their
former chef after ten years working cruise ships in the Caribbean and the
Mediterranean and touting a newly designed menu.
But given the generally limited access to the Internet and the low
percentage of cell phone subscribers, most Cubans will, for the time being, be
getting their information on what's on offer from their phone books, given free
to them when they paid their May phone bills.
Most observers agree that, for private businesses, access to the
Yellow Pages is a step forward and they expect that in the future many more
people will chose to advertise.
No comments:
Post a Comment