CHTA regrets US reversal of travel policies on Cuba and the likely effects on Cuba and the wider Caribbean

​The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) says it regrets the US reversal of its travel policies on Cuba, and the effect this is likely to have on the socio-economic development of Cuba and the Caribbean. The Association says it supports ending the US-Cuba embargo and its restrictions on trade & travel, and encourages Cuba’s active engagement in regional economic development. CHTA believes the policy changes could stall or altogether reverse the progress made in recent years.
 
CHTA contends that the restrictions would adversely affect US businesses such as import-export companies, and US-based travel-related businesses that have made considerable investments in Cuba since normalization began, and would translate into lost opportunities for US companies considering doing business in Cuba.
 
Even before full normalization, Cuba’s hospitality industry’s growth outpaced the rest of the region and most of the world. Major global hotel chains from outside the United States have been investing in Cuba, and today, they manage tens of thousands of rooms. As latecomers, US firms are at a competitive disadvantage in Cuba. They risk becoming marginal players in the travel industry’s growth in Cuba, and throughout the region.
 
The Association urges the United States & Cuba to accelerate cooperation and collaboration between their Governments, based on their mutual acknowledgment that the growth of travel & trade presents the greatest opportunity for breaking the long-standing social, political and economic barriers that have historically divided the two countries.
 
CHTA remains hopeful that the recent US-Caribbean Strategic Engagement Act will be a catalyst for this, and that the regulatory framework developed in the coming months by the US Administration, regulating Cuba travel and trade, will address the concerns being raised by regional and US travel industry stakeholders, as a result of the recent announcement.