Want to tour Cuba? Obama’s policy shift won’t immediately open the floodgates.

Want to tour Cuba? Obama's policy shift won't immediately open the
floodgates.
By Al Kamen January 6 at 7:00 AM

The promise of visiting Cuba after President Obama's restored diplomatic
relations and loosened travel restrictions has predictably sparked a
wave of interest in vacationing on the island.

But there won't be an immediate flood of U.S. tourists hitting the
beach at Playa Sirena.

Obama's announcement caused a huge spike in interest reflecting a
"pent-up demand" for more than a half century, said Tom Popper,
president of InsightCuba tours, which sends groups of 16 to 24 folks
there regularly via chartered planes. His agency's Web traffic went up
six times and calls and bookings went up four times — and other agencies
reported similar increases.

Some Cuba travel "for a specific purpose" such as cultural or
educational trips, he said, had been allowed for years. But the numbers
shot up anywhere from an estimated 90,000 to 150,000 between 2011 and
2013 after Obama loosened restrictions in 2011 to allow people-to-people
tours like Popper's program.

However, "general tourism" — meaning just hopping on a plane to Havana
— is still not possible, he said, noting that U.S. airlines "are not
allowed in yet."

Americans overwhelmingly support lifting the travel ban, according to a
December Washington Post poll , which found that 74 percent favor ending
travel restrictions to Cuba. And people-to-people travel tours may
increase substantially.

Another factor limiting travel is that Cuba has got to have the hotel,
transportation and infrastructure capacity to receive a huge influx of
Americans. That will take substantial time and also investment,
something that may be difficult to obtain given that President Rubio
could change all of this in 2017.


Al Kamen, an award-winning columnist on the national staff of The
Washington Post, created the "In the Loop" column in 1993.

Source: Want to tour Cuba? Obama's policy shift won't immediately open
the floodgates. - The Washington Post -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2015/01/06/want-to-tour-cuba-obamas-policy-shift-wont-immediately-open-the-floodgates/