Mexico/Cuba Packages Could Open U.S. Travel to the Island
Mexico/Cuba Packages Could Open U.S. Travel to the Island
By Nick Verrastro
A joint project to develop tourism links between Cuba and Mexico could open the U.S. tour market to the Caribbean island in the form of vacation packages that combine Mexico and Cuba.
The decision by Cuba and Mexico to work together to promote vacations that combine both countries was unveiled at Cuba’s recent 31st International Tourism Fair in Cuba (FITCUBA 2011). FITCUBA is Cuba’s annual international trade event, attracting travel agents and tour operators from 40 countries, including Western Europe and Canada – but not the U.S.
Cuba is the Caribbean’s third most popular destination, according to Cuba’s tourism ministry, and that’s without benefit of travel from the destination’s number one travel market – the U.S. The U.S. market accounts for more than half of the Caribbean’s annual vacation visitors.
At least one American proponent of opening U.S. travel to Cuba sees the joint promotion with Mexico as a foot in the door for American travelers.
Under the U.S. government’s recently announced guidelines on travel to Cuba, people-to-people programs to Cuba can be operated through tour companies in a third country, according to John McAuliff, executive director of the Fund for Reconciliation and Development, which lobbies for opening travel to Cuba.
“It is clear in the new guidelines that providers in third countries – tour operators in Mexico, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, for example –can sell [Cuba] packages in the U.S.,” McAuliff told Travel Market Report.
This will open up new possibilities for “purposeful travel” to Cuba under the U.S. government’s guidelines allowing Cuba tours that emphasize cultural programs and people-to-people exchanges.
That style of travel [purposeful travel] dovetails with the two-destination approach, said McAuliff, who attended FITUR2011 in Havana.
“My reason for encouraging joint destinations under the U.S. purposeful travel regulations is that for Americans, travel to Cuba can be a very intense experience” – given the history between the two nations and the requirements that Americans engage in cultural tourism on their travels to the island, he said.
Staying at one of Mexico’s Caribbean beach resorts for few days after a tour of Cuba, will help travelers integrate their Cuba experiences and relax afterwards, McAuliff explained. Mexico-Cuba products could include cruise links between Merida, a popular Mexico part of call on Caribbean cruises, and Havana, Mexico tourism officials told FITUR2011 attendees.
