|
Cuba, tourism and the U.S. blockade
Tourists from the U.S. can not enjoy
Cuba’s natural environment, its beautiful beaches,
or warm climate.
Almost seven million U.S. tourists traveled to the
Caribbean from January through July 2014, a group
Cuba can not attract, given the blockade imposed on
the island by the United States, for over 50 years.
Tourism is among the sectors most vulnerable to the
economic, commercial and financial blockade,
established by Washington in order to cause “hunger,
desperation and the overthrow of the
Cuban government,”
according to the memorandum issued in
1960 by Lester Mallory, deputy assistant secretary
of state.
Due to the blockade, the island’s tourism industry
can not access the U.S. market, principal emissary
of tourists to the Caribbean, stated Abelardo
Moreno, vice minister of Foreign Relations.
At the Solidaridad con Panamá Elementary School, in
the Havana municipality of Boyeros, Moreno presented
a report on the blockade, which will be submitted to
the United Nations General Assembly for approval, on
October 28.
The document states that cruise activities are the
most affected, given that ships do not dock at Cuban
ports because of the blockade, which also prevents
greater use of marina and nautical facilities
throughout the island.
In addition, the extraterritorial character of the
blockade affects Cuban travel agencies operating in
other emissary countries, such as in the case of the
Havanatur offices in Canada.
Tour operators Hola Sun Holidays, Limited and Canada
Inc. Caribe Sol were obliged to pay additional costs
for credit card processing, in excess of the 1.6%
applicable to other agencies based in Ottawa, stated
the report entitled “The need to end the economic,
commercial and financial blockade imposed by the
United States of America on Cuba.”
According to the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO),
of the 14 million tourists who visited the region in
the first half of 2014, 6,870,000 arrived from the
U.S. a figure which positions the nation as the
region’s strongest market.
Industry experts emphasize that the small number of
arrivals to Cuba is due, evidently, to reasons
beyond the tourism industry’s control, and that if
the blockade were lifted, Cuba would experience
trends similar to those of the rest of the
Caribbean. (AIN)
|
