Cuba Could Soon Be Option for U.S. Travelers

Vermont travel agents are looking forward to the day in the not-too-distant future when they can add another Caribbean island to their list of destinations. But when that island is Cuba, it takes on added significance.

For more than a half century, Cuba has been off limits for most Americans because of a trade embargo imposed by the U.S. not long after Fidel Castro seized power in 1959.

Now, the U.S. is beginning to loosen its travel restrictions, the result of President Barack Obama’s initiative in December to normalize relations with Cuba. It’s welcome news for travel agents such as Scott Milne of Milne Travel Agency.

Milne said there was quite a bit of interest earlier this year from “all kinds of folks who thought you could just buy a ticket and go to Cuba now.” Travel for specified activities has loosened, but heading to Cuba for a fun-in-the-sun vacation is still off limits.

“What we’re seeing down the road is a lot of expectations in the travel industry ... that it’s going to change pretty rapidly between now and the end of the Obama administration,” Milne said,.

He said it shouldn’t be too long before Vermonters will be able to hop on a plane and visit Cuba just like any other vacation destination. Right now, Milne said he books a fair amount of travel to Cuba for authorized people-to-people programs through tour operators licensed by the U.S. government.

“We have a 60-person group on the books for February next year,” he said.

Jan Cronin, who operates Educational Travel Service in South Burlington, said in the past, she’s booked one client to Cuba through a licensed travel broker.

“There’s a lot of interest in Cuba and there’s a lot of interest in people wanting to go there before it becomes inundated with travelers from all over,” said Cronin, a retired teacher.

Cultural Crossroads is another agency that provides specialized travel services.

The Barre agency, which specializes in small group travel, has shied away from Cuba because of the need to obtain a U.S. government license, said Cultural Crossroads President Carrie McDougall.

“I have not done in the past and, primarily, I have not done because it was quite an expensive venture to do so,” McDougall said.

She said the cost to obtain a license was in the neighborhood of $10,000.

Depending on how the relationship between the countries plays out, McDougall said adding Cuba to her list of destinations for her cultural-based tours is a possibility.

Cuba has been frozen in a sort of time capsule for the past six decades. There is the familiar sight of ’56 Chevys still humming along the streets of Havana. Not so quaint is Cuba’s infrastructure, which is crumbling and in desperate need of investment.

Milne warned that once the floodgates open there is going to be so much demand “that it’s going to change Cuba.”

Given the influx of European and Canadian tourists who already vacation in Cuba each winter, the addition of American tourists will place a strain on Cuba’s tourism infrastructure, said John Kavulich, senior policy adviser to the New York-based U.S-Cuba Trade and Economic Council.

“You have simple arithmetic that there are more U.S. visitors that want to go in certain months than Cuba can accommodate,” he said. “U.S. visitors are not running to Cuba in June, July and August when it’s very hot and very humid.”

Also Kavulich warned visiting Cuba isn’t cheap. Under Cuba’s current policy, he said, it’s more expensive for U.S. travelers to visit the island than Canadians or Europeans.

Obama’s new policy lifts the ban on the use of U.S.-issued credit cards as well.

Once the U.S. removes Cuba from its state-sponsored terrorism list, which the State Department has recommended, and when full diplomatic relations are re-established, Kavulich said, that will surely trigger a spike in interest and travel.

U.S. airlines are laying the groundwork for the resumption of scheduled air service to Havana.

JetBlue, which serves Burlington with daily flights to New York, already operates several charter flights a week from Florida to Havana.

“JetBlue is interested in providing additional service to Cuba from multiple U.S. cities as soon as legally permitted,” airline spokesman Philip Stewart said in an email. “JetBlue’s continued expansion in the Caribbean and Latin America, where one third of its network is operated, reflects the company’s network growth strategy in high-value geographies.”

For Vermonters, Montreal is the closest airport to catch a flight to Cuba. Air Canada and Cubana operate flights to Havana.

Under the revised travel regulations issued in January, the Treasury Department no longer requires travelers to obtain written authorization to travel to Cuba. Instead, visits are permitted by general license for the following activities: visiting family in Cuba, official business of the U.S. government, foreign governments and certain intergovernmental organizations, journalistic activity, professional research and professional meetings, educational activities, religious activities, public performances, clinics, workshops, athletic and other competitions and exhibitions, support for the Cuban people, humanitarian projects, activities of private foundations or research or educational institutes, exportation, importation or transmission of information, or information materials and certain authorized export transactions.

Source: Rutland Herald