U.S.-Cuba
travel business prepares for seismic shift
BY MIMI WHITEFIELD
MWHITEFIELD@MIAMIHERALD.COM
12/23/2014 7:00 AM
12/23/2014
10:04 PM
When news broke that Washington and Havana would be renewing
diplomatic relations, the phones at InsightCuba began ringing off the hook with
Americans interested in traveling to the island.
InsightCuba and other people-to-people providers, which are
licensed to organize trips to Cuba that promote engagement between Americans
and the Cuban people, anticipate more travel. But some providers say even
bigger changes are ahead — perhaps allowing authorized travelers to visit on
their own rather than only on an organized tour.
“It’s all a bit tentative
because Treasury hasn’t come up with the new travel regulations yet,” said John
McAuliff, executive director of the Fund for Reconciliation and Development,
which has worked to end the U.S. embargo since 1985. “But it’s clear in the
language of the president’s announcement that they’re talking about every
American, not just organizations. ”
McAuliff, who has organized
people-to-people tours — the most recent in November — said he expects the
whole process of Cuba travel will be shaken up and that the changes could make
Cuba travel more accessible to a wider demographic of Americans.
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sent an email to those
in the Cuban travel business last week saying the new regulations would be out
in a matter of weeks. When Obama reauthorized people-to-people trips in early
2011, it took nearly four months to release the regulations and the first
people-to-people trips didn’t take off until that August.
Since then, Treasury
has approved or renewed the licenses of 463 people-to-people operators,
ranging from university alumni groups to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The
National Trust for Historic Preservation and Elderhostel.
Tom Popper, president of InsightCuba, said he expects the Cuban
travel business to become far more competitive — with any travel agency that
complies with the new regulations allowed to sell tickets.
He bases his interpretation on this paragraph in a White House
Fact Sheet on the changes which allows travelers who fall within 12 categories
to visit Cuba without seeking prior approval from the U.S. government:
‘Travelers in the 12 categories of travel to Cuba authorized by
law will be able to make arrangements through any service provider that
complies with the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control regulations
governing travel services to Cuba, and general licenses will authorize
provision of such services.”
In OFAC terminology, a general license means that a traveler
doesn’t need to seek prior approval from the U.S. government to travel if they
self-certify that they fall into one of the 12 categories.
“I think I’ve read that paragraph 150 times,” Popper said. “Travel
to Cuba just got a whole lot easier.”
While Phil Peters, who heads the Cuba Research Center and also has
a people-to-people license, agrees there will be great liberalization of travel
to Cuba, he isn’t so sure about the interpretation that independent travel will
be allowed.
“It’s possible, but it’s
not clear,” he said. “There have been a lot of experiences where the government
has issued general guidelines and then the actual regulations surprise you.”
While the U.S. permits those with family members in Cuba to travel
freely to the island, most Americans can only legally go to Cuba by taking a
people-to-people tour. And they’re not supposed to be vacations at the beach.
South Florida Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is wary of
expanded travel. It’s “troubling because history has shown that many of these
trips are purely for tourist purposes which is supposed to be against U.S. law
and in turn injects millions of dollars straight into the pockets of the Castro
regime and the Cuban military,” she said.
She also finds “a blatant contradiction of policies when the Obama
administration promotes more travel to Cuba while at the same time issuing
travel advisories stating that the Castro regime can detain U.S. citizens at
any time without an explanation.”
Robert Burke, a mathematician who retired from Rutgers University
and now lives in Boston, was among Americans on people-to-people tours in
Havana this week.
He said anyone who thinks those on the tours just go around
looking at famous churches is wrong. “They bring us to people. I dare say we’ve
had some very interesting views. They don’t sound like the government line,” he
said. “We also heard from a retired diplomat who served in the U.S. He was much
closer to the government view.”
Karen Armatorio, a resident of The Villages, and her son were
waiting to join their people-to-people group at the Hotel Nacional. She also
remarked on the ease with which she has exchanged views with Cubans. “I think
it’s fantastic. They’ve been very open about everything, including their
political views,” she said.
Popper, meanwhile, is preparing to capitalize on all the interest
in Cuba travel by expediting his plans to add new trips to Cuba.
“Everything just exploded” after Obama’s announcement, he said.
“We’ve booked five times as many passengers as we normally do every day since.”
On Monday, he announced 70 additional departure dates for Cuba
travel in 2015 and 2016.
“We were planning on adding more departures but the response we’ve
been getting hastened our decision. More departures were imperative,” he said.
This year, InsightCuba had 170 departures of small groups of 16 to
24 people and sent around 3,000 people to Cuba.
Among InsightCuba’s new offerings in 2015 are a cruise and a trip
that will take Americans to Cuba to run in the Marabana Havana Marathon Nov.
15. [Those participating in athletic events fall into one of the categories
that no longer requires prior approval from OFAC.]
OFAC has steadfastly refused permission to those who want to offer
ferry or any other maritime passenger service to Cuba. But the InsightCuba
cruise is structured so its travelers fly to Cuba, catch a cruise offered by a
Canadian company in Cienfuegos, meet their Cuban driver and host at each port
of call and then disembark in Santiago de Cuba.
The cruise, which navigates around the island, begins and ends in
Jamaica for its non-American passengers. Popper already has OFAC approval for
the cruise.
“I don’t think the American population at large knows it can
travel to Cuba legally but now so many more people know about the possibility,”
said Popper. Some of the interest is also coming from people who want to go now
in case the next president reverses the policy, he said.
“Now is the time to come,” said Chris Cornell, who lives in
Montreal and was visiting Cuba last week. “It’s going to change dramatically”
with the renewal of U.S.-Cuba relations.
Even if individuals are allowed to book tickets, Popper said he
still expects plenty of business for the people-to-people operators.
McAuliff agrees that even
if there are other options to book Cuba travel, “travelers will value
people-to-people operators’ experience and knowledge” and it will be a good
option for first-time travelers to Cuba.
Many, but not all, people-to-people tours tend to be expensive.
InsightCuba’s nine-day Classic Cuba tour, which departs Jan. 31, for example,
costs $4,895. A nine-day National Geographic Expeditions Tour that visits
Havana, Cienfuegos, Trinidad and the Bay of Pigs costs $5,995 per person double
occupancy and it doesn’t include airfare.
An eight-day culinary tour of Cuba organized by Chef Douglas
Rodriguez’s DRod Culinary Adventures departs on March 13 and costs $6,475
double occupancy but it includes airfare from Miami. Rodriguez pioneered Nuevo
Latino cuisine at the old Yuca restaurant and continues his fusion tradition at
two Miami Beach restaurants, OLA and De Rodriguez at Ocean.
Because such
people-to-people tours are costly, those taking them tend to be affluent,
mostly white and older, said McAuliff.
But if people are permitted
to book on their own, they can stay at casas particulares, private
bed and breakfasts, or inexpensive hotels and cut costs “as long as they go
with the intent to have serious engagement with the Cuban people,” he said.
The new travel policy, said
McAuliff, “could really change the demographics of who goes to Cuba from the
United States. You could see younger travelers and more blacks and non-Cuban
Hispanics as well as families. But it’s still a bit theoretical.”
McClatchy correspondent Tim
Johnson contributed to this report from Havana.
The 12 categories of authorized travel
Travelers in 12 categories will be able to visit Cuba under
general licenses without seeking formal permission from the Office of Foreign
Assets Control. That means they won’t have to submit prior paperwork and may
only need to sign an affidavit when buying their tickets.
Travelers who fell into some of these categories, such as
journalists and those on family visits, were already allowed to travel under
general licenses. Now, no one in these categories will need to specifically
apply for a license:
1. Those on family visits
2. Travelers on official business of the U.S. government, foreign
governments and “certain intergovernment organizations”
3. Journalists
4. Professionals engaged in research or who are attending meetings
in Cuba
5. Those participating in performances, clinics, workshops, and
athletic and other competitions
6. People engaged in religious activities
7. Those pursuing educational activities [incl People to People]
8. People engaged in activities that support the Cuban people
9. Individuals or groups engaged in humanitarian projects
10. Those carrying out the activities of private foundations or
research or educational institutes
11. People engaged in the export, import or transmission of
information or information materials
12. Those engaged in export transactions authorized under existing
regulations and guidelines
Source: White House
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