Tom Popper spoke with the editor of Cuba Business Report about the recent changes to “travel to Cuba” legislation by the Trump administration. Although a new era has emerged with a new set of rules for American tourists to Cuba – there are still options. Legal travel has not ended, he explains, there are significant changes. Options remain to allow any American to visit Cuba. Many are not aware and this must be emphasized: these recent changes are not a prohibition on travel.
InsightCuba was the first company to offer people-to-people travel in 2000 under President Clinton, and also delivers Support for the Cuban People Travel via small group and specialized tours.
Cuba Business Report: What did the opening of American travel to Cuba create in the last few years (since 2015, let’s say), for both Americans and Cubans. What happens when Americans meet Cubans?
President Obama’s détente with Cuba in 2015 and the resulting loosening of travel restrictions, the most significant since 1961, quickly made Cuba the #1 destination to travel to for U.S. citizens. More than 50 years of pent up demand to visit our island neighbor was released. Tour operators like insightCuba grew four times overnight, and others quickly started offering the destination for the first time, ever. Big names in the travel industry including Marriott and Airbnb started operating on the island. For the first time in five decades, U.S. commercial airlines began offering flights to Cuba. Later, the cruise industry was permitted to sail from Florida to ports in Cuba. The more options that travelers had, the more Americans wanted to visit Cuba.
The normalization of relations between the U.S. and Cuban government coupled with the deluge in U.S. visitors to the island created a strong sense of optimism in Cuba. Overwhelmingly, the Cubans rejoiced. I personally hadn’t seen such an outpouring of affection towards the U.S. since 9/11. After traveling to Cuba for those 15 years prior to the détente, the one thing every Cuban I met wanted to see in their lifetime, was for the U.S. and Cuba to become friends again. On December 17, 2014, Cubans got their wish when President Obama and President Castro announced the normalization between the two countries. American flags hung out of many windows, and Cubans welcomed their American brethren with open arms.
In the years that followed, American travelers came, and they brought more than optimism. They brought dollars, creating and supporting a fledgling wave of private enterprise on the island. Opportunities to independently earn a living became a reality. Americans were greeted with Cuban warmth and introduced to their culture. Most Americans were amazed by what they experienced, that Cuba wasn’t the dark, militarized country they had been led to believe existed for decades. They learned that Cubans, despite economic hardship, valued family, culture and happiness. They embraced knowledge, education, the arts and an entrepreneurial spirit. Values that most Americans espouse.
Cuba Business Report: What’s your opinion/sentiment of the the latest crackdown by the Trump administration against American tourists’ right to travel to Cuba?
The return to tougher travel restrictions by the administration runs contrary to our own best interest as well as that of the Cuban people. Whatever your brand of politics, left, right or center, Americans travel. It’s a freedom we expect and one we exercise. According to the U.S. National Travel & Tourism Office, in 2018, 93 million U.S. citizens traveled outside the United States. Cuba remains the only country where decades of travel restrictions remain. Except for a recent moratorium on travel to North Korea, Americans are free to travel to any country on the planet, including those where we are fighting wars. However, for decades U.S.-Cuba policy has been driven by Presidential electoral politics, trying to satisfy what has now become a fractured Cuban-American community, with more Cuban-Americans wanting closer ties with their homeland.
Despite the Trump administrations announcement on June 5, there is a silver-lining, in that most of the 12 permissible categories of travel, remain intact, and any American can still legally travel to Cuba. By way of history, and since 1963, travel restrictions on U.S. travel to Cuba have been in place. While President Obama significantly loosened those restrictions in 2015, Americans have had to travel under one of the 12 license categories issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
While Trump’s new restrictions issued on June 5 eliminate large cruise ships leaving from the U.S. sailing to Cuba, Americans may travel under the Support for the Cuban People license category. This category simply requires a full-time schedule of activities that promote direct contact with the Cuban people and prohibits leisure travel, which includes spending time on the beach. Companies like insightCuba will continue to provide incredible experiences, meeting regular Cuban people in real life settings. Travelers overall have been seeking more meaningful and transformative experiences when visiting destinations. The travel industry in general, including hotels and online travel agencies, are trying to adapt to this trend. Visiting Cuba provides the type of experiences travelers are seeking, and they can do so legally.
Cuba Business Report: Let’s discuss this “new era” of travel for Americans who wish to visit Cuba. How is travel to Cuba going to change? What new type of travel do you envision? Can you give us some travel options?
Travel to Cuba has always been special for U.S. citizens. The opportunity to finally go after decades of being told they couldn’t, is exciting within itself. Under the new rules, tour operators will focus entirely on providing engaging experiences, which are harder to curate, and transformative for the traveler as well as rewarding for the residents they meet with. On an insightCuba tour, guests will visit uplifting community projects in both the city and countryside; visit with inspiring artists and musicians; meet with career-oriented university students; and get to know the people that give Cuba its spark. With less options for Americans to travel to Cuba, traveling to there will feel a little more exclusive.
Cuba Business Report: Do you think the cruise ships and the small ship cruises will come back to Cuba? It is, after all, a favorite method of travel for many people?
For now, the large cruise ships that originate in Florida’s ports are prohibited from cruising to Cuba. However, small-ship cruises that start and end in Cuba, are permitted to operate, provided that passengers follow the Support for the Cuban People requirements once they disembark the ship. InsightCuba offered small ship cruises from 2013 through 2018 in connection with Group IST.
Cuba Business Report: Will these new regulations affect your business to Cuba? Do you think this will be for the long-term?
We are quite optimistic that the current regulatory landscape will boost business for insightCuba and other tour operators and have a positive effect on the local Cuban economy throughout the country. With future cruise bookings, prior to June 5, estimated at 800,000 passengers and other land-based travel, the U.S. travel market to Cuba swelled to more than 1 million travelers. This is five times what it was only a few years ago. While we anticipate the overall market to contract without the cruise ships, many tour operators will regain a larger market share, albeit of a smaller market, which will result in a net gain for operators, and more jobs in both the U.S. and Cuba.
Cuba Business Report: Are you optimistic that American travelers’ desire and curiosity to know Cuba will continue to grow?
With almost 60 years of pent up demand, American desire to travel to Cuba will remain strong for years to come. Cuba is safe, culturally rich, only 90 miles from the U.S., and has inexpensive non-stop service from numerous hubs in the U.S. People can go for a long weekend in Havana or spend two weeks touring the country and experiencing this incredible destination.
Travel creates a positive affinity. It is not a bad thing. Appreciation and love. We will adjust. It is a new era.
Cuba Business Report: Thanks for talking with me today. It’s been good meeting you and learning your impression of the recent changes in travel for the American tourist who wants to visit Cuba.
