According to the travel restrictions that are placed on US citizens travelling to Cuba, there are twelve authorised categories of travel. Each of these categories is still burdened with a variety of requirements and prohibitions, which have only increased under the Trump administration. Those travelling under the people-to-people provision for example may no longer visit with just a promise to comply with US rules, but must go as part of organised groups accompanied by a guide. In addition, there is a list of hotels, stores, and other businesses tied to the Cuban military that the US Government said citizens cannot do business with.
In 2017, 619,000 American travellers visited Cuba, up 18% from the previous year. In addition, it was reported by the Associated Press that the number of cruise passengers visiting Cuba increased from 184,000 in 2016 to 541,000 last year. While this number may be in some way affected by the rule changes implemented, it is likely that Cuba will continue to see rising tourist numbers, particularly from the cruise industry.
“The Trump administration tweaks impacted the cruise industry very little ”
According to Hannah Sampson of Skift, a travel industry intelligence platform, “while Americans lost some of the ability to explore Cuba on their own due to restrictions put in place by the Trump administration, cruise ships are offering organized trips approved by the US Government. That seems to be working out well for operators, who are eager to increase their presence in the destination.”
USA Today reported that a combination of tightening restrictions, the impact of Hurricane Irma last year and the general perception of travel to Cuba being put forward by the Trump administration looks likely to have a cooling effect on US travel to the island. In spite of this, cruise is still booming, in no small part due to the allowance on cruise travel to Cuba being left untouched. While the Cuban travel industry may see the overall number of visitors dip, cruise still offers a viable growth opportunity, particularly when taking into account that most other visitors will not be under the same or similar restrictions as US travellers.
“The Trump administration tweaks that were made to travel to Cuba impacted the cruise industry very little,” Frank Del Rio, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, said during a panel discussion with other executives at the Seatrade Cruise Global event in March. “To some degree, we benefitted from that, though we didn’t need the benefit … because ships are full at good prices.”