Canadians Flock to Cuba Ahead of Expected American Invasion

As Cuban-American relations continue to thaw, a Canadian travel agency says travellers from this country are hoping to hit the beaches before changes for American travellers take hold.

“No one knows at this point what those changes are going to represent in terms of Canadian travellers vacationing there, but there’s certainly a sense of wanting to get in before it does,” Halifax-based Maritime Travel senior director of marketing Blair Jarrett said Monday.

While travel to Cuba for tourism reasons is still technically banned, President Barack Obama's administration has continued to ease up on restrictions for Americans.

Since last year, Americans have been able to travel to Cuba under 12 categories including family visits, religious activities, and educational activities. Before last week, people travelling for educational purposes had to travel in authorized tour groups, but now they’ll just have to fill out a form saying they’re not going to Cuba just to drink on a beach.

“I think there’s quite a bit of red tape and quite a bit of organizing that has to happen before Americans start arriving in droves at the all-inclusive resorts,” said Jarrett, though he acknowledged that is bound to affect prices eventually.

Jarrett said Cuba has long been a preferred destination for Canadian travellers, with more than 1,000,000 annual bookings, but this year, it’s been even more popular.

“There’s certainly a fondness there, and for people who love that, or even maybe have not been before, there’s a certain charm and a certain character that they would like to experience in case it might change moving forward,” he said.

Source: Metro News (Canada)