14 January 2010

Cuban market on verge of opening up?

Strong hints continue that the potentially lucrative market of Cuba may soon be open to American visitors. For example:

• Officials at the Key West International Airport have urged the US Treasury Department to add the facility to its list of three big international airports that include Miami, Los Angeles and New York.

• Earlier this year, Tampa’s airport made a similar request.

• Houston, already one of the biggest gateways between the US and Latin America, says local officials are pressing them to push for Cuban access as well.

• Online travel agency Orbitz Worldwide Inc. has e-mailed customers asking them to sign a petition urging the US government to lift the ban on travel to and from Cuba outright. The message cites bills, introduced earlier this year in Congress, that propose to do that.

"There's a lot of pent-up demand," said Tom Cooper, chairman of Gulfstream Air Charter Inc., a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., carrier that has seen a 25 percent increase in passengers on the flights it operates between Miami and Cuba.

Last year, the Obama administration eased restrictions on travel and money transfers to the island by US citizens or residents with family in Cuba.

"Cities are looking to get ready for any other moves that could mean more travelers flying back and forth between the two countries," said Kirby Jones, a consultant in Bethesda, Md., who advises companies on business with Cuba.

A spokeswoman said the Treasury couldn't comment on specific requests for changes to existing travel policy, but that requests were reviewed when received.

Under Treasury rules, travel to Cuba by Americans is restricted to family members of Cuban citizens, government officials, academics and others who qualify for special licenses to travel there. About 50,000 American travelers, most of whom traveled by charter flights, received licenses last year.

If the travel ban were lifted, eventually as many as one million Americans a year would visit Cuba, according to the US International Trade Commission, a federal agency. Already, charter operators say the changes earlier in the year have caused a spike in the number of Cuba-bound passengers.

By David Wilkening