CHACO'S STORY
Travel Buddies
CHACO Travel co-founders Casey Champion and Grant Cohen are childhood friends whose initial bond was formed due to their mutual love for music and sports. As they grew older, they also both developed a passion for travel. During their young adulthoods, they both traveled extensively, taking lengthy voyages throughout the world and settling abroad for work and study.
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Together they explored much of Europe and Mexico, and independently Casey and Grant traveled to many diverse regions throughout the world, including Central America, South America, Cuba and the Caribbean, Europe, Central and East Asia, and the Middle East.
Committed to Excellence
In 2016, at the height of the United States' detente with Cuba, Casey and Grant were inspired to utilize their combined strengths and expertise in order to found a Cuba travel agency that offered travelers meaningful and engaging trips to Cuba.
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The goal was to establish a travel company that offered travelers the most outstanding private guided trips to Cuba. We have accomplished that -- and we remain as active on the ground as ever, building a network of local experts, vetting restaurants and accommodations, and creating a team of excellent guides and top-notch drivers.
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Our commitment to continuous quality improvement has allowed us to gain backdoor access to private events (such as rehearsals for the National Ballet), as well as to create our own exclusive activities (such as Jazz at Jibacoa Beach with Ruy Lopez-Nussa).
Continued Growth
Since its founding, CHACO has carefully grown and adapted to overcome challenges, improve its services, and meet the needs of a diverse audience of travelers.
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Although CHACO began as a People-to-People educational travel company, CHACO nevertheless committed to working exclusively with Cuba's private sector from the company's inception. This foresight allowed CHACO to seamlessly adjust to the changing political and legal landscape, and CHACO officially began operating Support for the Cuban People programs in early 2019.
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Additionally, Grant and Casey began operating high school student travel programs to Cuba in 2017, and CHACO subsequently operated its first university study abroad program to Cuba in 2020. CHACO has operated over 30 programs for over 150 travelers.
