Carnival Corp bullish on Cuba ahead of tightened travel rules
Carnival Corp says it is business as usual for Cuba sailings and the expected tightening of rules for travel will not affect its operations.
The Trump Administration is expected to still allow travel but will ban ‘individual’ people-to-people trips, meaning only travelers booking licensed people-to-people tours through designated operators will be allowed.
Scheduled flights and cruises will not be affected, although there may well be some tweaking of shore excursion policy to meet the new rules.
Full details are expected to be announced later this afternoon.
‘We will review the extent of the tightening of the travel rules, but our guests have already been traveling under the 12 approved forms of travel to Cuba since we undertook our historic first cruise to Cuba more than a year ago,’ Carnival Corp said in a statement.
"Our experience in Cuba this past year has been extremely positive. We look forward to the new cruises being planned for Cuba with Carnival Cruise Line and Holland America Line. We also have requested approval for our other brands to travel to Cuba.
"Travel brings people and cultures together so we are excited about the upcoming cruises to Cuba for our guests."
In essence, the goal of any tighter restrictions is to make sure Americans are not spending money which directly benefits the Cuban Military.
The Military has interests in countless tourism and hotel projects, including reportedly one property that Starwood Hotels and Resorts debuted last year in Havana.
This could spell bad news for parent company Marriott International and US hospitality companies in general.
Arne Sorenson, Marriott’s president and chief executive, said: "We urge the Trump Administration to recognize and utilize travel as a strategic tool in its efforts to improve relations with Cuba, allowing us to be part of a promising future, as opposed to reverting to the policies of the past."
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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