Travelling to Cuba – Has anything really changed?

What Does Cuba Have to Offer?

Cuba has been in the news so much in the last year or so and there has been so much talk of change and so much expectation surrounding the country, that it is hard not to get carried away in terms of excitement about the place.

Certainly, there have been some changes, but the big question is what has really changed?

Is travelling to Cuba as a tourist now much easier than say, 1 year ago?

What is new? Let me try and answer these questions for you below.

What has Changed in Cuba

For the average traveller, very little in fact has changed. From the UK, for example, flights to the island have been possible for years and who has not been to Cuba yet?

It certainly seems that everyone knows someone who has taken a holiday in Cuba, be it to Varadero for a honeymoon or to Havana for a city break.

From the United States, the self-imposed restrictions to their Caribbean neighbours Cuba have meant that many of you from the U.S. have been limited in the options to see Cuba.

The truth is that, in reality, very little has changed at all for you and, until the full embargo has been removed, visiting Cuba will continue to be illegal for you from the States.

If you are permitted as an American, to visit Cuba, what you will find which is different and which certainly makes life a little easier, is the new laws revolving around the use of credit cards.

Some American credit cards, such as American Express and Mastercard, can now be used in Cuba.

Up until the last few months, this was not possible and created quite an inconvenience for many American travellers.

Flights

Many airlines, including Jetblue, have talked about starting flights to Cuba and in Jetblue’s case, they are actually following through with this and introducing flights from NYC, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale to Cuba.

Expect other airlines to follow in the long term future but for now, do not expect the surge of flights to happen yet.

It is still too difficult for the average American to gain permission to visit Cuba.

Life in the Resorts

Life in the beach resorts and hotels areas seem to be running exactly the same as they have been as previous years.

Walk around Varadero Beach and the hotels and it is business as normal.

For all of the talk from the politicians such as Obama and Castro, for the everyday visitor, the cocktails are flowing just like they have been and the growth in terms of tourism statistics continues to grow steadily, albeit mostly as a result of continually growing interest from British, Canadian and Latin American tourists.

Certainly though, once the embargo does get cancelled, the flood of American visitors could be scarily high.

Scarily because the sudden rush of visitors could cause Cuban culture to disintegrate overnight.

Life for Cubans

For all the talk and excitement, little has changed for the majority of Cuban people and many wait patiently for the future. Many Cubans live in poverty and, although some do find jobs in tourism as the visitors’ numbers increase, opportunities for many Cubans are severely limited. One hopes, of course, that any developments in the future will begin to be of benefit to the local population.