Reprint from CNN  |  Patrick Oppmann|  Feb. 9, 2021 Cuba took a long-awaited and likely irreversible step towards massively expanding the island’s private sector over the weekend. On Saturday, Cuba’s communist-run government announced that Cubans will soon be able to seek employment or start businesses in most fields of work. Previously, Cubans were restricted to working in just 127 officially approved private sector job descriptions. Some of those legalized activities over the years included working as a barber, tire repairer, palm tree trimmer or “dandy,” as the gov ..read more

Reprint from Bloomberg |  B. Bartenstein  | Dec. 15, 2020 The president-elect plans to reduce restrictions on Havana President-elect Joe Biden’s team plans to bring the U.S. closer to normalized relations with Cuba, reversing many of the sanctions and regulations imposed during the Trump administration, according to people familiar with the matter. That strategy includes reducing restrictions on travel, investment and remittances for the island nation that are perceived to disproportionately hurt Americans and ordinary Cubans, said the people, who requested anonymity because the new ..read more

Reprint from Radio Havana Cuba |  J. Miyares  | May 23, 2019 American Airlines, the leading international carrier serving Cuba, said on Wednesday that it intends to offer additional flights to the island despite moves by the United States to tighten its economic blockade and further restrict travel between the two countries. “The level of the impact is being studied, but our focus at this moment is to wager on the Cuban market in the long term and to continue our operations, which continue growing,” AA’s operations director in Cuba, Ramon Jimenez, told EFE in Havana. Jimenez represe ..read more

Reprint from Travel Weekly  |  Johanna Jainchill  | May 02, 2019 As travel suppliers puzzle over the possible impact of an announced but not specified change in U.S. policy toward Cuba, consumers are rushing to book trips before potential restrictions kick in. “The John Bolton speech … has seemingly energized the traveling public,” said Insight Cuba CEO Tom Popper, who said the company was seeing a 23% increase in traffic to its website week-over-week following the speech. Bookings were up 18%. Bolton said in Miami on April 17 that the Treasury Department “will implement further ..read more

Reprint: Incentive Magazine  |  Matt Alderton | January 03, 2019   Local partners and thorough planning helped Streamlinevents pull off a successful incentive trip to the “Pearl of the Antilles” — despite fundamental challenges. Cuba is a mystery to most Americans. As the rest of the world opened up with the help of affordable air travel, the Internet and social media, it remained hopelessly closed thanks to a decades-long trade embargo. When former President Barack Obama lifted the embargo in 2015, however, the latch finally lifted on Cuba’s iron gate. Now, travelers are flocki ..read more

Reprint from Forbes | Feb. 7, 2019 by Alexandra Talty This year could be a banner year for Cuban tourism. As the Caribbean island continues to court foreign vacationers, the tourism ministry announced that they expect over five million visitors in 2019. If the island hits their goal, it will be the 12th consecutive year of growth in tourism numbers for the Pearl of the Antilles, with 7.4% growth between 2018 and 2019, said the ministry. Tourism incomes are estimated to exceed 3 billion dollars in Cuba in 2019 , according to the ministry. Experts say that the expansion of accommodati ..read more

Reprint from Travel Weekly |  G. Myers | Jan. 7, 2019 Cuba closed out 2018 with a record 4.8 million visitors. The 2018 figure is higher than 2017’s 4.5 million visitors but lower than the projected 5.1 million arrivals, according to Alejandro Gil, Cuba’s minister of economy and planning. Gil attributed the dip to bad-weather events, including mistaken concerns about damage from Hurricane Irma in 2017, and confusion regarding the Trump administration’s restrictions on travel, which were first announced in June. Still the number represents a 60% jump in arrivals over the last five years ..read more

We recently had the pleasure of partnering with our colleagues at ALHI to showcase their  portfolio property, the Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski, and the wonderful city of Havana to an amazing group of MICE Planners! Thank you to everyone who contributed to make this Cuba discovery trip a success! The post ALHI Cuba Discovery Trip appeared first on Cuba Incentive Travel Associates - CITA ..read more

Reprint from NPR | December 5, 2018 Cuba’s state telephone company will allow mobile phone customers to use the Internet via a new 3G network, starting on Thursday. But as with previous tech advances in the island nation, only those who can afford it will be able to take advantage of the access — which remains under the control of the autocratic government.Phones have emerged as a key method of accessing the Internet in Cuba. After all, it was only 10 years ago that the Castro government lifted its ban that prohibited regular citizens from buying computers, and Internet access in pri ..read more

Reprint from Caribbean Journal | October 30. 2018 U.S. demand for travel to Cuba is making a steady comeback. Since May, tour operators like insightCuba, are seeing increases in leads and bookings, while new hotels on the island are about to launch and U.S. airlines are increasing routes. “Early signs of a comeback began in early January but were inconsistent, with ups and downs through April, but then in May, something started to happen,” Tom Popper, president of insightCuba told Caribbean Journal. “For the first time in over a year we are showing consistent signs of growth in the market ..read more