By Traveler Confidential Staff
AMERICANS WILL SOON HAVE MORE PLACES TO STAY IN CUBA
You can’t get on the Internet or turn on the TV without hearing one word these days: Cuba.
President Barack Obama is visiting the island right now, which makes him the first U.S. president to visit Cuba since the 1959 revolution.
Airbnb has 4,000 listings for Cuba already. Now, it’s opening up that inventory to travelers around the world. Up until recently, U.S. government policies restricted Airbnb to only allowing Americans to rent their properties in Cuba.
Hotel giant, Starwood, will soon be the first American hotel chain to own and operate hotels on the island in decades. It’s been given the green light to renovate and operate three Cuban hotels. For decades, all Cuban hotels were state-owned and operated. And, Starwood isn’t the only U.S. hotel corporation wanting in on the hospitality business on this Caribbean island. Marriott International is making a move as well. The U.S. Treasury Department also has also given Marriott permission to operate hotels in Cuba.
The Obama administration has made a number of policy changes with regards to Cuba lately. Last week, the administration approved “individual people-to-people trips” to the island. This means solo travelers can visit Cuba if they fall into certain categories, without having to travel in a group. And, many U.S. airlines have already applied for the right to operate daily flights to Cuban cities. Travelers could see many more flights as early as this fall.
With hotels and airlines lining up to do business in this country of slightly more than 11 million people, and more Americans expressing a desire to visit, it remains to be seen whether the demand outpaces the supply.
Old Havana – Photo: Nick Kenrick via Flickr, used under Creative Commons License (By 2.0)
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