Prospects for a Resurgent Cuban Tourism Market

– Cuban tourism has faltered in recent years, and an end to the U.S. travel embargo appears to be the catalyst needed for significant growth in the tourism industry.
-The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act, seeking to lift all travel restrictions on the island, is supported by 60 to 67 percent of Americans and would likely result in one million tourists visiting the island within the first year.
– The bill has thus far been stalled due to anti-Castro ideologues in key Committee positions and the precedence of the ongoing health care battle in Congress.

For almost fifty years, the United States has prohibited the vast majority of its citizens from traveling to Cuba as a part of its economic embargo on the island. However, a flood of American tourists may soon be unleashed on this forbidden island as a bipartisan coalition grows in the U.S. Congress in support of the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act. This bill comes at an opportune time for Cuba, a country which has seen growth rates in tourism falter in recent years as it once again relies on the travel industry to play a prominent role in the island’s economic development.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Nicholas Maliska