By CHRIS DOUCETTE, Toronto Sun
Last Updated: August 1, 2010 2:05am
SANTA LUCIA, CUBA — As Cody LeCompte anxiously awaits the end of his
Cuban vacation from hell, dozens of other Canadians have just arrived on
the tropical island eager to begin their holiday in the sun.
A busload of new tourists pulled in early Saturday to the Gran Club
Santa Lucia, the same resort where the Simcoe teen has been detained for
over three months.
It seems most, but not all, are aware of Cody's plight, having heard the
story in the news over the last week or so.
And while it was too late for this bunch to change their travel plans,
many said they would not be renting a car in the Communist country after
hearing the 19-year-old's story.
"Although, there was one man I met in the hotel lobby who was planning
to rent a car until he overheard me talking on the phone to the Canadian
embassy," said Danette LeCompte, who is over $30,000 in debt from trying
to get her son home.
That man is just one of many Canadian tourists who may be spared a
similar fate to Cody thanks to the single mom.
"I've been telling everyone I meet not to rent a car while they're
here," Danette said. "I just don't want anyone else to have to go
through what we've been through."
Many Canadian tourists have started conversations with the LeComptes
about Cody's story not knowing who they are.
And they are stunned when they find out.
"Oh my God! That's you?" one man from North York said to Cody, after the
teen's uncle, Gary Parmenter broke the news.
It's too early to tell how Cuba's tourism industry will be affected, if
at all, in the wake of Cody's story.
"I have had hotel staff tell me though that they've had a lot of
cancellations," Danette said.
Cody has been detained in Cuba since the end of April because of an
accident that wasn't even his fault.
Although the teen's story has been talked about across the country
recently, Montreal native Isabelle Ledoux, 35, hadn't heard anything
about it until she bumped into Danette at the resort.
Ledoux said she has been to Cuba nine times, so she is well aware of the
perils of rental cars.
"We really need to make sure everybody knows about this so it doesn't
happen to anyone else," she said. Ledoux said even though she arranged
her trip to Cuba online, she received a notice in the mail with a list
of warnings on it.
"If my travel agent had told me about these Cuban laws (that can leave a
tourist detained indefinitely), we never would have rented a car,"
Danette said.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/07/31/14890386.html
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