If Cuba Is on Your Bucket List, You’d Better Book It While You Still Can Nina Ruggiero - Travel+Leisure
go to original June 14, 2017

Travel Cuba | A Cinematic Travel Film (Bobby Burns)

It's easy to travel to Cuba right now — but that could change.

As President Donald Trump considers rolling back the Obama administration's open policy with Cuba, travelers with a hankering for Havana may want to speed up their plans.

Four million tourists visited Cuba in 2016, representing a 13 percent growth after U.S. airlines re-established direct commercial flights, according to the Ministry of Tourism.

What is the appeal of Cuba? For some, it's finally taking a bite of that forbidden fruit. After more than 50 years of closed doors, visiting our neighbor 90 miles south of Key West became as easy as booking a ticket online and buying a visa at the airport. For others, it's the unique opportunity to experience the culture and history of a place they never had the chance to get to know.

“In the past two years since President Obama announced his policy of opening up to Cuba, we've seen economic exchanges, investments and jobs growth in the U.S. and in Cuba's private sector," Christopher Sabatini, executive director of research non-profit Global Americans and professor of international relations and policy at Columbia University, said in a statement. Reversing those reforms would cost U.S. air and cruise lines $3.5 billion and impact up to 10,154 jobs, according to an analysis from anti-embargo advocacy group Engage Cuba.

But Trump has criticized Obama's initiatives, taking to Twitter immediately following Fidel Castro's death in 2016, threatening to “terminate” ties, to the approval of many of his Cuban-American supporters.

Trump is expected to announce his plan of action in Miami, where more than half of the majority (66.8 percent) Hispanic population is Cuban-American, sometime in June.

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Related: The 3 Worst Trip Mistakes When Planning Your Travel to Cuba (Cuba Journal)

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