Just as the U.S. travel-to-Cuba industry is getting over its initial starry-eyed dreams and making realistic assessments about the business, a new factor is coming into play, as reports circulate that Pres. Trump is considering reversing some or all of the restrictions rolled back last year by Pres. Obama.
The last 18 months have seen the return of scheduled air service, new rules allowing visitors to self-certify that they are going for one of the 12 allowed purposes, and big investments by U.S. companies in owning or operating hotel and other properties on the island. In particular, cruise ships have begun making more Havana stops, and unlike the airlines, they are filling the seats.
In part, that’s because Cuba travel is still chancy: not enough hotels and restaurants at ‘tourist level,’ inability to use U.S. credit cards, even though the restrictions have been officially listed, and more. As a result, the airlines that rushed to grab the available slots are cutting back. Cruise operators like to point out that they bring their infrastructure with them, avoiding those issues.
But what will happen to all this is open to many questions if Trump reinstates all or part of the 50-year-old embargo restrictions. On the one hand, some industry leaders are sure that the President, who is in the hospitality business himself, won’t put their investments at risk; others worry that he is listening more to the old hardline anti-Cuba lobby. Only time will tell.
Skift, the travel-industry intelligence site, has an interesting assessment on its site this week.
