Wayne Perinchief's package tours to Cuba are set to kick off on June 5 and are already proving a big hit.

The Government MP said 50 people had expressed interest even before the flights had been advertised with many keen to use the communist state as a stepping stone to the Caribbean.

He hopes if the monthly flights prove popular he can offer flights to Jamaica after revealing an attempt to hook up with Air Jamaica had fallen at the final hurdle.

"What's come out of this is there is no direct flight to the Caribbean. What I am finding is there is as much interest from people just wanting to get to the Caribbean."

He said people were using Cuba to get to Santa Domingo in the Dominican Republic and Jamaica while people from the Caribbean were relishing the chance to come to Bermuda without having to tackle the visa restrictions in America and Canada.

"In the future I might look at it again," said Mr. Perinchief about a Jamaican flight.

The ten-day Cuba packages cost around $2,000 per person. They include a double room in a five-star hotel in Varadero which, according to its website, is largest resort complex in the Caribbean, and used to be the holiday haunt of US Mafia boss Al Capone.

Included in the package is a visit to a cigar factory, dolphin aquarium and cabaret.

On day five the package includes a move to Cuba's capital Havana.

Mr. Perinchief has package tours arranged for 100 people, once a month, until December.

The direct flight to Cuba has attracted controversy with former US Consul General Denis Coleman saying Bermuda's ties with the communist dictatorship put at risk America's friendship.

However Mr. Perinchief said there had been charter flights from Bermuda for years and he first went on one in 1996. The last Cuba charter was last year.