Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Irish Heritage Program with Mick Moloney, November 4 - 12

Cuba

a cultural and educational tour
with Mick Moloney, Athena Tergis,
Niall O’Leary, Billy McComiskey and friends

Athena Tergis, Mick Moloney

November 4 - 12, 2014

“Two island peoples in the same

sea of struggle and hope:

Cuba and Ireland"

a plaque on Old Havana's

O'Reilly Street

Cultural Exchange

Join Mick Moloney, Athena Tergis, Niall O'Leary, Billy McComiskey and other acclaimed Irish traditional performers from the US in a ground breaking exchange with Cuba.

Accompany them to dance and music encounters with Cuban counterparts. Hear Mick describe the role of music in the Irish immigrant experience and today's traditional scene in the US.

Witness the Celtic cultural bond between the Irish in America and the descendents of Spanish migrants to Cuba from Asturia and Galicia.

Meet Cubans who have mastered uilleann pipes, fiddle, harp, sean nos singing, and step dancing.

Enjoy a beautiful country and a warm and welcoming people.

Full program below

Niall O'Leary with Cuban dancer, 2013

Billy McComiskey

Irish Heritage Tour

Hundreds of organizations legally bring US citizens to Cuba every year for its Caribbean and Latin history, music, dance and people-to-people contact.

Only our program adds on the unique window of the Irish diaspora.

Irish and Cuban ties date back to the 17^th Century, reflected by names on streets, sugar estates and buildings. Catholic Irish nobility who fled to Spain become part of its colonization of the Americas.

The 19^th century brought Irish-American railroad workers, engineers and teachers to Cuba; plus gun runners for a costly independence struggle that paralleled Ireland’s.

Discover a long forbidden neighbor, plus the little known legacy of centuries of interaction between

Cuba

Ireland

and Irish Americans.

Full program below

Highlights of Cuba’s Irish history http://tinyurl.com/IriishCubanHist

Letter from the Embassy of Ireland below

(translation from above slide by Rafael Moya,)

The Irish and the railroad

Daniel Warren, married to Honora Ryan, was authorized to create a society responsible for helping sailors

in transit and workers in the construction of the Havana-Guines railroad. The first railroad accident

happened on that route in 1842, for which the engineer Patrick Doherty was found guilty.

Slide from talk by Dr. Margaret Brehony

An Unforgettable Week

Revel in an unequaled combination of Cuban and Irish music and warmth!

Hear local experts on the Irish presence in Cuba from the 17th to 19th centuries

See Irish linked homes and plantations from the 18th and 19th centuries in Havana and other provinces.

Stay in a Varadero resort hotel while visiting historical sites in Matanzas Province.

Investigate the birthplace in Cuba of the father of Eamon de Valera, New York born independence leader and President of Ireland.

Meet Irish film maker Charles O'Brien and learn about his project "A Captain Unafraid" about Dynamite Johnny O'Brien from New York, a gun runner for the Cuban independence struggle against Spain.

Speak with international journalists and Cuban academics.

Enjoy as well Cuban culture according to your interest: salsa, jazz, hip hop, reggaeton, symphony, ballet, modern dance, cabaret and the music of the 50s, made famous by the Buena Vista Social Club.

Full program below

Costs

Registration/affiliation fee $250

+ Ground cost (hotel, bus, most meals) $2800 + $500* double
occupancy, $3100 + $500* single

+ Air cost, visa from Cancun $375

+ Flight from your home to Cancun $ ______

Air tickets and hotel rooms can be a problem so please contact us as soon as possible with questions or for a PDF registration form: irishcuba@ffrd.org 917-859-9025.

Even if you can’t come this year, be with us in spirit by financially assisting US based traditional musicians and dancers to share their spirit and talent with

Cuba

* We are suggesting a tax deductible contribution of $500 to support the participation of the musicians. According to personal situation, that may be less or more, or take the form of a grant.

Contributions to support musicians' costs can be made by non-travelers here. Should sufficient funds be obtained from advance donations and grants, trip costs will be reduced.

A abbreviated program will be available November 4-9 that does not include travel to Irish sites in Matanzas Province with an overnight at Varadero beach. Estimated ground cost $2,500 + $500*.

Write for registration form irishcuba@ffrd.org

Banda de Gaitas de La Habana. CeltFest 2012

More about the musicians

Session at CeltFest, 2012

Memorial in Havana to the Irish hunger strikers

Full program (subject to change)

Tuesday 11/4

fly from Cancun to Havana; check in O’Farrill Hotel; dinner with organizers and hosts

Wednesday 11/5

10:30 am Press conference “Casa de la Amistad”

11:00 am First presentation by Rafael Moya of Irish-Spanish history in Cuba (17th – 18th century) at Casa de la Amistad (press welcome to remain)

12:30 light lunch at Casa de la Amistad
2:00 pm Heritage Tour joins Moya in visits to Irish linked locations

4:00 pm Teatro Retazo Welcome and presentation by the dance company of Isabel Bustos, dance presentation by Niall

6:00 pm dinner, mojito instruction at Arte Chef

7:30 – 10:00 pm Jazz Café welcoming concert with Asturian and Galician celtic music groups, Irish dance by Alma Mater from University of Havana

Thursday 11/6

9:00 am first showing of film “Natural Grace” about fiddler Martin Hayes at CIDMUC (Spanish subtitles)

10:00 am presentation at CIDMUC by Mick Moloney on role of music in Irish immigrant experience

12:00 pm light lunch with key people from Cuban culture

2:00 pm presentation at CIDMUC by Mick Moloney on Irish traditional music today in the US

4:00 pm showing of film "Absolutely Irish" at CIDMUC

(open evening, possible diplomatic reception)

(Heritage Tour participants can choose to attend Mick's talks at CIDMUC or join a tour of non Irish sites in Old Havana and visit the museums of Fine Arts and of The Revolution)

Friday 11/7

10:00 am second presentation by Rafael Moya on Irish and Irish-American history in Cuba (19th-20th century); discussion by Charles Gavan O’Brien of the film he is making about Dynamite Johnny O’Brien; press welcome

12:30 pm light lunch at EGREM on way to ISA (Higher Institute of Art)

2:00 pm Cultural exchanges at ISA

7:00 pm. Dinner at paledar next to Arunel Theater

8:30 pm Opera de la Calle

10:30 pm Fabrica de Arte Cuban music and art

Saturday 11/8

9:30 am Heritage tour visit to Catholic/Santaria church in Regla, performance by N’sila cheche

12:00 pm Ferry to Habana Vieja

12:30 light lunch at Plaza Vieja

1:30 pm continuation of walking tour with Rafael Moya to Irish sites in Old Havana; presentation by architect Miguel Coyula at model of Habana Vieja

4:00 pm handicrafts market

6:00 pm dinner near concert site

8 pm. public concert (Museo de Bellas Artes or Sala Covarrubias, Teatro Nacional?)

10:30 pm session with Irish and Cuban musicians at Hotel O'Farrill

Sunday 11/9

musicians depart

Heritage tour visits Irish sites west of Havana in Artemisa Province; free night to enjoy Buena Vista Social Club, Tropicana or…

Monday 11/10

Visit to Irish sites in provinces east of Havana (Mayabeque and Matanzas)

Hotel Melia Varadero

Tuesday 11/11

Visit to Irish sites in Matanzas

Hotel Melia Varadero

Wednesday 11/12

bus to airport for flight to Cancun

Irish related locations

Cuba/US People to People Partnership

Fund for Reconciliation and Development

145 Palisade Street, Suite 401

Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522

(914) 231-6270 irishcuba@ffrd.org

Graphic Society of Cienfuegos

Cuba December Tourist Arrivals Rose 8.8% From Year Ago

By Ainhoa Goyeneche Jan 29, 2014 3:02 PM ET

Following is a summary of Cuba’s December tourist arrivals from the National Statistics Office in Havana:

==========================================ba December Tourist Arrivals Rose 8.8% From Year Ago
By Ainhoa Goyeneche  Jan 29, 2014 3:02 PM ET  0 Comments  Email  Print
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Following is a summary of Cuba’s December tourist arrivals from the National Statistics Office in Havana:

===============================================================================
                       Dec.      Nov.      Oct.     Sept.      Aug.      July
                       2013      2013      2013      2013      2013      2013
===============================================================================
Monthly Visitors    305,827   234,276   167,975   147,686   187,297   212,511
Annual Change%         8.8%      7.6%     -0.9%     -0.5%      4.4%     -1.6%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
YtD Visitors      2,852,572 2,546,745 2,312,469 2,144,494 1,996,808 1,809,511
Annual Change%         0.5%     -0.4%     -1.2%     -1.2%     -1.2%     -1.8%
===============================================================================
SOURCE: Oficina Nacional de Estadisticas
To contact the reporter on this story: Ainhoa Goyeneche in Washington at agoyenechecu@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Marco Babic at mbabic@bloomberg.net

Indiana University Students

IU professor hopes to take students to Cuba

By JON BLAU, The Herald-Times

Published 6:58 am, Thursday, February 27, 2014

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — More than nine years ago, Indiana University professor Dennis Conway had prepared a class to visit the "rich, old island" of Cuba.

The U.S. government, holding to its embargo of the country, made it impossible to follow through. Any stay would have to last at least 10 weeks, officials said; anything shorter, not a "legitimate" educational exchange, would be an unwanted boost to the Cuban national economy.

This summer, however, one of Conway's pupils may follow through. Frank Marshalek, a doctoral candidate in IU's department of geography, has organized a two-week excursion to Bloomington's "sister city" of Santa Clara as part of a six-week summer course titled "Issues in Latin America, the Caribbean and Contemporary Cuba."

After President George W. Bush's tightening of regulations on travel to Cuba, the easing of those restrictions under President Barack Obama has allowed IU to plan a trip to Santa Clara as part of the itinerary — if enough students sign up for the class with the Office of Overseas Study. The deadline, Marshalek told The Herald-Times (http://bit.ly/1eprmYX), is supposed to be Monday, but he could ask for an extension.

After all, after almost a decade of waiting for the first Bloomington-based course to travel to Cuba, Marshalek is hoping the exotic locale will be attractive to students.

"It's a Cold War relic, this animosity," Marshalek said.

IU has organized trips to Cuba through Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolissince the early 2000s, with professor Tim Brothers at the helm, but those trips were halted once Bush added restrictions, according to Kathleen Sideli, associate vice president for overseas study. Brothers restarted his trips to Cuba with geography students in 2011, Sideli said.

Marshalek's class would have added meaning because of Bloomington's connection with Santa Clara, which Bloomington has regarded as a "sister city" since 1999. Marshalek and others have been able to visit as individuals, but not with a class. His syllabus for the course plans for three weeks in Bloomington, learning about the country's period of colonialism, Che Guevara and more, before heading to Santa Clara and eventually Havana.

Conway sees this as a step in the right direction. He reflects on the embargo between the two countries and what it meant for him when he tried to buy a box of Cuba's famous cigars. Restrictions by the U.S. didn't do much to limit the availability of his favorite brand.

He could find the same Cuban cigar he enjoyed at the duty free shop in an airport in Barbados in America; there, the cigar's yellow package said it was from Cuba. Once, Conway said, he found what he imagines is the same cigar, still yellow, but the packaging said it was from Canada.

America's neighbor to the north doesn't have the same restrictions on trade.

"The whole idea of keeping a Cold War 'state of war' between two civilized countries is a laughing stock," Conway said. "It's sort of wilting away."

___

Information from: The Herald Times, http://www.heraldtimesonline.com

This is an AP Member Exchange shared by The Herald-Times.

Globus FAM trip report

Montecito Village Travel was among those Invited to Join Exclusive Group Traveling to Cuba as Part of “People to People Educational Exchange”

Montecito Village Travel Joined with Globus for Four-Day, U.S. Government-Sanctioned Journey

source: MONTECITO VILLAGE TRAVEL

Chris Weatherhead & Connie Miller from Montecito Village Travel at 3329 State Street were among a highly select group of only 50 travel advisors nationally who have just returned from an exclusive Globus Cuba Experience to Havana and beyond. The unique people-to-people educational exchange enabled Montecito Village Travel – including Chris Weatherhead locally – to experience the groundbreaking Globus program that has been sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

“When we ask our clients which destinations are on their wish list, the one place that a growing number of them tell us is Cuba. That’s why we accepted the invitation to join with a very select number of our fellow travel colleagues from across the United States in making this extraordinary journey in which we could thoroughly understand the options we can legally offer,” explained Chris Weatherhead, Chief Information Manager of Montecito Village Travel. “We were very excited to take advantage of this rare opportunity that Globus provided to experience a cross-section of Cuba as few other Americans have. The cultural exchange has been truly enlightening by providing us with an understanding for what travelers from California can expect when they participate in one of these government-sanctioned tours.”

Highlights of the Globus Cuba Experience included:

 Saturday, February 22, 2014 - Miami–Havana–Varadero The Globus Group Leader briefed participants prior to departing for Miami’s airport. After a short flight to Havana, we were met by their Cuban National Tour Director. Participants continued through Cuba’s countryside and arrived at their Varadero hotel for a welcome dinner with music.

 Sunday, February 23, 2014 - Varadero. Excursion to Matanzas& Cardenas The group met with members of the Danzon Club to learn about Cuba’s national dance and enjoyed an interactive dance lesson. They then traveled to Matanzas, known as the “Athens of Cuba” for the many renowned artists and intellectuals it has produced. They visited the Triolet Pharmacy, which dates back to 1879 and is preserved in its entirety.

Following lunch, the group interacted with the workers at Ediciones Vigía, a print and binding shop, where they learned about a traditional craft that is still done by hand. They continued to the historic town of Cardenas, where the Cuban national flag waved for the first time on May 19, 1850. They next visited an artist’s gallery to interact with the artists and musicians. That evening, they enjoyed a banquet dinner at Casa du Pont, built in 1926 by American millionaire Irénée du Pont.

February 24, 2014 - Varadero to Havana

The group traveled through the heart of Cuba’s agricultural and sugar cane-growing industry to Havana, where they explored Old Havana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From graceful 16th- century castles to modern high-rises, Havana is acclaimed as one of the world’s most visually diverse cities. They participated in a discussion with a local architect on topics including Havana’s unique architecture, the challenges of renovating the city’s exquisite historic buildings, and the future of these restorations.

They started their evening with a discussion and choir performance at Casa de la Amistad, then capped their day with dinner at the illustrious Hotel Nacional de Cuba – a landmark hotel long identified as a symbol of history, culture, and Cuban identity.

February 25, 2014 - Havana

We met with a former Cuban baseball player and joined in a discussion regarding the history and the love of this favorite pastime in Cuba and in the U.S. This was followed by an examination of Nobel Prize-winning novelist Ernest Hemingway, whose 30 years in Cuba provides an enduring legacy.

During lunch at a local organic farm, the group joined a discussion with the owners and learned about organic urban farming in Cuba. Then they returned to Havana and Callejón de Hamel, a neighborhood known as “Salvador’s Alley” showcasing eclectic artwork, vibrant street music, Santeria shrines, and colorful murals by local artist Salvador Gonzales. They discussed how the artist gives back to the community and the beliefs of the Santeria religion.

Prior to dinner, we met members of the local Old Styler Car Club and heard why Havana’s streets are filled with vintage American automobiles, as well as how these cars are obtained and what it takes to keep them running. The group then rode in an Old Styler car to their farewell dinner at Café del Oriente, considered one of the city’s finest restaurants.

February 26, 2014 - Havana to Miami

“While travel to Cuba remains heavily restricted, our sincere hope is that it is only a matter of time before this nation – that’s only a mere 90 miles away from the southernmost part of the Continental United States – opens up completely,” Chris Weatherhead stated. “When that day inevitably comes, we will be prepared to help guide our clients on what they can expect through our first-hand knowledge.”

To begin your journey, contact Montecito Village Travel at 3329 State Street Santa Barbara, CA 93105 or online atwww.ytc.com or simply call 805.969.5096.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Impact of Travel

U.S. Tours of Cuba Changing Travelers’ Opinions on Blockaded Country

Peter Orsi, Associated Press

Feb 03, 2014 9:40 am

When President Barack Obama reinstated “people-to-people” travel to Cuba in 2011, the idea was that visiting Americans would act as cultural ambassadors for a U.S. constantly demonized in the island’s official media.

Two and a half years later, a survey shared exclusively with The Associated Press suggests the trips are not only improving Cubans’ views of Americans. They are also changing U.S. travelers’ opinions of the Caribbean nation for the better, and dimming their view of Washington policies that have long sought to pressure Cuba’s Communist leaders.

“I think U.S.-Cuban relations should be open. People should be talking to each other. People should be sharing,” said Ellen Landsberger, a 62-year-old New York obstetrician who recently visited on a people-to-people tour.

“We have this tiny little island that is no threat to the U.S. that we’re isolating from the world,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense.”

There’s surely significant self-selection among people-to-people travelers; supporters of a hard-line policy against Cuba are unlikely to consider such a tour. And the people who run the trips tend to be more or less sympathetic toward Cuba, or at least to the idea of easing or lifting the 52-year-old U.S. embargo, which could potentially be a boon to their business.

Still, the results of the multiple-choice survey by Friendly Planet Travel, a company based in suburban Philadelphia that promotes legal tours of Cuba, are eye-catching. Three-quarters said they were drawn by curiosity about life in a nation that has been off limits to most Americans for decades.

Before travel, the most prevalent view of Raul Castro’s government was “a repressive Communist regime that stifles individuality and creativity,” 48 percent of respondents said. That fell to 19 percent after their visits, and the new most-popular view, held by 30 percent of respondents, became the slightly more charitable “a failing government that is destined to fall.”

Read MoreFormer Mob Hotel Reopens in Havana
Most striking, 88 percent said the experience made them more likely than before to support ending the embargo against Cuba.

Peggy Goldman, president of Friendly Planet Travel, said visitors are surprised at how hard it is to find many goods, even something as basic as an adhesive bandage.

Some leave Cuba blaming U.S. policy for the shortages — as the Cuban government does constantly, although analysts also point to a weak, inefficient and corruption-ridden economic system as a key cause of scarcity.

“In day-to-day life, it’s so difficult for the average Cuban. When the travelers go and they see that, and they experience it themselves, it makes sense that they say (the embargo) doesn’t make sense,” Goldman said. “It hasn’t toppled the government in all these years. We need to try a different way.”

Goldman acknowledged that her informal poll, which surveyed 423 Americans who visited Cuba in December, was not scientific.

But others in the industry tell a similar story.

“Some people go back and say they want to write letters to their senators,” said Jeff Philippe, a guide who has taken 34 groups to the island in just over a year for Insight Cuba, which puts on people-to-people tours for Americans. “I’ve had several people say to me, ‘I want to make this my personal mission to end the embargo.’”

That could provide ammunition to the harshest opponents of people-to-people travel, who have argued from the beginning that the tours, partially organized in concert with Cuban state-run entities, let the Communist government put its best face forward and hide its warts.

“It’s hard to imagine anyone being exposed to Cuba’s reality and walking away with a more favorable view of the Castro regime,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American Republican from Florida. “But it’s not surprising to hear that’s the case with these tourist trips to Cuba, since they are specifically designed to expose people only to what the regime wants them to see.”

“It’s clear these tourist trips do little more than help the regime’s image, fund its repressive machine, and undermine the courageous work of Cuba’s democracy fighters,” Rubio said.

In general, the tours tend not to include much contact with Cuban dissidents.

In a written response to an AP request for comment, the U.S. State Department said people-to-people travel has successfully “contributed to a more realistic and therefore more positive view of Americans and the United States by the Cuban people.” It called the visitors ambassadors of democratic values, free-market economics and freedom of expression.

“Being favorably disposed to Cuba and ordinary Cubans should not be confused with endorsing a totalitarian system of government,” it said of the returnees. “The people of Cuba have a rich and powerful culture that is rightfully appreciated by visitors to the island.”

Tour operators insist any talk of Potemkin villages is wrong. They argue they’re supporting local organic farmers, performers, artists, musicians and entrepreneurs who run private restaurants, adding that the Cuban government’s involvement in scheduling is minimal and agendas carefully comply with U.S. rules barring sun-and-sand tourism.

“It’s nothing like going to North Korea where you’ve got minders and there are only certain places you can go,” Goldman said.

Most visitors report warm and seemingly open exchanges with Cubans from all walks of life. Some say they’re aware that being shuttled around in air-conditioned buses and sleeping in luxury hotels differs greatly from most Cubans’ reality.

“That part of it, you feel very separated. It’s almost schizophrenic because you’re treated very differently from the person who lives here,” said Allan Kessler, a New York banker. “But, yes, we are meeting different types of people. We have no idea if everyone is pre-screened or not, but to our eye it seems rather candid.”

He spoke on a recent morning after his Insight Cuba group visited a local youth dance troupe and a farmers market. Each traveler was given the equivalent of less than $1 in the local currency, about one-20th of the average monthly salary, to see how much they could buy. Afterward they discussed the experience.

“Overpriced,” ”very little protein,” ”it doesn’t go very far” were among the comments. “Why are beans so expensive?”

Then it was off to lunch at an enormous outdoor state-run restaurant where just about every client orders the house specialty, roast chicken.

Estimates of how many Americans travel to Cuba legally on cultural exchanges range from around 70,000 to 100,000 a year.

Several Cubans interviewed by the AP said they’ve always been taught to separate people from politics, and valued the chance to meet Americans.

“We realize that they’re just like us. They like to dance,” said Glenda Quintana Carpio, a 20-year-old member of the dance troupe who coached visitors in basic steps after a performance in a Havana theater. “We’re human beings from different countries with different idiosyncrasies.”

Associated Press writer Christine Armario in Miami contributed to this report.

Peter Orsi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Peter_Orsi

http://skift.com/2014/02/03/cuba/

My comment

The core of this story is correct. Americans are affected at least as much as Cubans by people to people travel, as should be the case.

It is the US government that requires all trips be full time programs in groups organized by people to people licensees and Travel Service Providers, in part because of fear of criticism by Senator Rubio. The only providers of group travel in Cuba are state companies thus most trips have similar character.. The Cubans design itineraries and provide guide/interpreters to convey its perspective on history and society. Trip sponsors can negotiate distinctive itineraries up to a point.

It is not very different for tours for foreigners in any country of the world, including the US. New York tour operators will take Europeans to colorful cultural locations in Harlem but not to impoverished sections of the Bronx or to a meeting with a marginal anti-US government group.

Participants in Cuba tours receive a packaged overview, often with more significant institutional contact than they could arrange for themselves, but a group tour is a group tour anywhere in the world. What is worse, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) blocks self-directed or free time lest participants sneak off to the beach or spend a few hours shopping.

The only solution is to take OFAC's policing mentality out of the process of travel by US citizens. The law will continue to prevent mass sun and sand tourism, but all non-tourist purposeful travel should receive a general license, like that provided to Cuban Americans, religious organizations and universities.

That will allow the current people to people companies and organizations, and the Cuban receiving agencies, greater flexibility in programming. Equally important it will allow individuals, families and groups of friends to organize their own program, stay in privately owned bed and breakfasts, rent cars and use public transportation, like every other foreigner.

John McAuliff
Fund for Reconciliation and Development

Monday, March 3, 2014

Tour bookers hopeful U.S. may ease rules on travel to Cuba

Published: Monday, 3 Mar 2014 | 4:12 PM ET

By: Amy Langfield | Content Editor

While more than half a million Americans are already traveling to Cuba legally every year, the door could open wider. There are indications of a thawing of relations, even as the decades-old embargo remains in place, according to travel professionals who gathered Saturday at The New York Times Travel Show.

Currently, visits by Cuban family members and tour groups are allowed that follow a cultural agenda that don't allow much independent travel.

"I think there will be general licenses before the spring is over," said John McAuliff, the executive director of the U.S. not-for-profit Fund for Reconciliation and Development. "It means you can stay in bed and breakfasts, eat in private restaurants, take the public buses, rent a car and pick up Cuban hitchhikers. It becomes a totally different process of engagement."

Raymond McGrath, the U.S. State Department's coordinator for Cuban affairs, participated in the Cuba panel at the travel show and acknowledged that changes have been underway. But he advised travelers and tour operators to research their trips, make sure they're not stage-managed the entire time, and then return to the U.S. to add to "educated debate" on the topic.

"Cuba caused a lot of trouble," McGrath said. "Fidel Castro caused a lot of trouble for a lot of people all over the world for a long, long time. And the reason that to a certain extent ended was because he ran out of money, not because he had a change of heart.

"But things have changed and change will continue to happen," he added. "It is U.S. policy to encourage purposeful travel ... as well as family travel to Cuba. I'm very encouraged by what my co-panelists are saying today. It gives me a little hope that things may be changing with respect to their relationship with the organizers in Cuba, because the Cuban government controls your movements pretty carefully, and if that's changing, that's great."

Amy Langfield | CNBC

Members of Metamovements Latin Dance perform at a panel featuring John McAuliff of the Fund for Reconciliation and Development, Ray McGrath of the State Department and Yves Marceau of Road Scholar.

The Obama administration has been working on nontravel issues as well, McGrath said.

"We're trying to find a way that we can work with the Cuban government on ... issues that are so clearly in the U.S. national interest, that regardless where you fall on the political spectrum you pretty much have to agree," he said, pointing out the 750-mile shared maritime border.

"Over the last couple years we've ... lowered the volume of the two-way rhetoric," McGrath said. We've been working to take a more pragmatic approach. What we don't want to end up with is an oil spill off the west coast of Cuba, coming up into Florida, or some other kind of problem—a plane going down in the straits—and we're reaching for our Rolodex and trying to figure out who the heck to call."

Cuba has has been allowing pockets of private ownership, though often with steep taxes. Its tourism industry grew just 1 percent last year, and Cuban officials hope it improves, said Antonio Diaz Medina, an economist and professor of tourism at the University of Havana and former vice president of Cuba's Havanatur Group.

In addition to the 60,000 state-owned hotel rooms (as of 2012) an estimated 12,000 bed and breakfast-style private rooms have become available in the past four to five years, he said.

While the service at Cuban hotels and the quality of restaurants are better than a few years ago, Cuban needs foreign investment to further advance, said Diaz, who also took part in Saturday's panel and has been meeting with college hospitality programs in the U.S.

"We also need advice from here ... that spirit of entrepreneurship," he added.

Play Video

Cuba on the verge of change?

Though Cuba is allowing a small private sector to operate, Ted Henken of Baruch College discusses whether the nation is really open to change.

"We know that many American hotels would like to come in," Diaz said. "We hope it will be sooner than later."

(Read more: Now legal in Cuba: Real estate agents)

Cuba-U.S. relations have a number of challenges, including human rights issues, spying allegations and, recently, Havana's inability to process visa applications because it couldn't find a U.S. bank to handle its accounts, The Miami Herald reported.

But movement has come from surprising places, such as the 76-year-old sugar tycoon and longtime Castro foe Alfonso Fanjul, who told The Washington Post last month that he is open to investing in Cuba "under the right circumstances."

In an interview with CNBC, McAuliff cited the interview as one of many signs the political ground may be shifting.

"I think [McAuliff] is very optimistic—I hope he's right," said Peggy Goldman the president of Friendly Planet Travel, which arranges people-to-people trips to Cuba. "Even if it doesn't happen, the status quo is better than it was."

Marine biologist David Guggenheim, who over the past 13 years has traveled to Cuba 73 times via his work with Ocean Doctor, said he hopes the island nation opens up in a way that preserves its environment, especially the pristine coral reef in the Gardens of the Queen.

While Cuba has policies in place to protect marine life, his concern—based on what he's seen in Florida and other parts of the Caribbean—is what will happen if travel from the U.S. widens significantly "and those billion-dollar checks start getting waved around," he said.

Guggenheim hopes that by the time large numbers of tourists arrive, sustainable, eco-focused travel is so ingrained in Cuba's travel industry that there is no temptation to sell out.To promote that concept, he's helping organize an environmental economics conference in Cuba.

But history shows it's hard to predict what happens in Cuba.

"I've given up trying to predict what's going to happen," Guggenheim said. "The door has been open for three years. Cuba is changing. … We don't know what the future holds, good or bad."

—By CNBC's Amy Langfield. Follow her on Twitter at @AmyLangfield.

Follow Road Warrior on Twitter at @CNBCtravel.

Comment:

jmcauliff 3 hours ago

The organizers of trips would be very happy and our Cuban hosts will cooperate if there were more time for independent activity included in program schedules.

However, it is the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department that explicitly forbids self-directed time.

One benefit if the President provides a general license for all purposeful travel is that travelers who have a serious desire to engage with Cuba's people, history and culture will have a completely independent schedule.

Similarly new and established groups organizing trips can be far more creative with their itineraries than OFAC allows.

John McAuliff
Fund for Reconciliation and Development

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101458522