More news came out last week about the
decreasing number of American
travelers visiting Cuba. US visits to the “Forbidden Country” have dropped considerably in the past two years,
and officials in Havana are obviously not happy about it. The number of Cuban-Americans who traveled there has
fallen by 50% and the number for all other Americans is much lower as well. At the same time, the number of US
travelers getting slapped with fines has increased, and first-time offenders are being charged $7,500 for
non-licensed trips to the island.
Despite the US government’s tighter restrictions on “people-to-people” trips, groups visiting for humanitarian
reasons are still allowed, as long as there is no evidence of “disguised tourism”.Bill Hauf’s It’s
Just the Kids program that returned
a few days
ago from building playgrounds for Cuban kids is an example of the kind of travel that is allowed. It is great that
these types of programs can visit the country, although all the red tape doesn’t make it easy. And so many others are
missing out. I guess places like the refurbished luxury hotel Adrienne
mentioned won’t have any legal American visitors
checking in when it opens next month?