What's new

Travel ban to Cuba lifted

Jwrussell

April '05 BoM
Rating - 100%
105   0   0
Joined
Dec 12, 2004
Messages
9,828
Location
Tampa, FL
Linkage? Details? Last I heard you still needed some specific reason to be going. Easy enough to get around, but not quite free travel...


Sent from my personal space using my iPhone
 

cartisdm

Young & Eager
Rating - 100%
20   0   0
Joined
Apr 21, 2011
Messages
1,654
Location
Charlotte, NC
Linkage? Details? Last I heard you still needed some specific reason to be going. Easy enough to get around, but not quite free travel...
http://www.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com/page/content.detail/id/525275.html

From the article:
The changes made by the Department of Homeland Security in January 2011, modified the ban on travel to Cuba to allow for "purposeful" travel that includes passengers with close relatives in Cuba, those involved in medical and agriculture business or traveling for education and religious activities. General U.S. travel restrictions for tourism and trade with Cuba remain in place.
 

AlohaStyle

BoM Sept '12 & Aug '13
Rating - 100%
185   0   0
Joined
Aug 7, 2009
Messages
5,312
Location
WA
Those links are nothing new except that airport was added to the approved list. Brutus, what are you talking about?
 

AlohaStyle

BoM Sept '12 & Aug '13
Rating - 100%
185   0   0
Joined
Aug 7, 2009
Messages
5,312
Location
WA
Not doubting what you heard, but this info is nowhere to be found doing some quick google searches. Travel is restricted as stated in the January announcement.
 

sloth

5_toed
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
Joined
Mar 19, 2008
Messages
173
Location
Nebraska City, Nebraska
maybe this is what yer talking about?

ripped from another post on another forum:
I know here have been a few other posts on this same topic, but I saw this in the new recently:

http://articles.philly.com/2011-06-26/news...ba-fidel-castro

June 26, 2011|By Ellen Creager, Detroit Free Press


Musicians play for tourists at the National Hotel in Havana. U.S. companies expect to be able to…
The door to Cuba has been shut tight for so long, it's hard to recognize it opening.

But it is.

American tour companies this summer should be able to legally offer "people-to-people" cultural trips to Cuba to anyone.

Because of a slight easing in U.S. travel restrictions that have been in place for 48 years, these trips will showcase culture and interactions with Cuban artists and citizens.

"They still don't want people going for an inclusive resort beach vacation - that goes against the spirit of the regulations, because it's propping up the regime and doesn't benefit regular people," says Tom Popper, CEO of the tour company Insight Cuba. "But Cuba has so much more to offer than the beaches."

Insight Cuba and other vendors are awaiting licenses so they can start offering trips. Insight Cuba (www.insightcuba.com) has planned 115 trips of three, seven or eight nights to run by April 2012, but it can't offer a thing until the license comes through.

Departures will be from Miami, on charter aircraft. Havana is only 30 minutes away by air.

The main question people ask about Cuba is, "Is it OK to walk around?" Popper says. "Yes, of course."

The embargo against Cuba has been in force since 1963. Until 1977, virtually no American could visit. That was later relaxed so people with family there, religious groups, or academic researchers could visit. Even people-to-people cultural trips were allowed briefly from 2000-03 under a Clinton administration program.

"We had a license, and we operated these absolutely legal, incredibly rich programs," Popper says.

But then the Bush administration shut them down for the next seven years. Insight Cuba shut down, too.

Now, the people-to-people exemption has reopened.

Americans have been sneaking into Cuba for years through third countries. But when they're caught, they can be fined.

"It's estimated that 200,000 Americans travel to Cuba illegally every year through Mexico or Canada," Popper says. "But most travelers don't want to take that kind of risk. So this is an incredible opportunity to go to Cuba. We don't know how long it will be open."

He sees a pent-up demand. Forbidden fruit, a mysterious land, so close to our shores - all those enticements are at play.

"People are so intrigued. Cuba is so close geographically and so culturally familiar," he says. "Once people get there, it's about the intriguing and romantic and fantastic atmosphere, the people - not all about Fidel Castro and communism.

"It's a warm and gentle people. Life exists there on a grand scale. It's like going back in time. So much of Cuba is untouched. You go and feel like it is Cancun in 1977. It hasn't been homogenized."

So, go to Cuba this year. When tour companies get their Cuba licenses within the next month or so, you'll hear and see the ads beckoning you there.
 

AlohaStyle

BoM Sept '12 & Aug '13
Rating - 100%
185   0   0
Joined
Aug 7, 2009
Messages
5,312
Location
WA
Yeah it is great that there will be many legal options for Americans now, but this has been known since January. It all depends on how creative "tour companies" will get... The title of the post was just eye opening for a minute! LOL
 
Rating - 90%
9   1   0
Joined
Jan 5, 2011
Messages
1,689
Location
Dallas, TX
That "Havana and Scenic Pinar del Rio" trip that Insight Cuba offers looks pretty awesome. The description even mentions visits to cigar factories (though not which ones)!!!
 

Soundwave13

BoM Feb 2010
Rating - 100%
143   0   0
Joined
Jul 1, 2008
Messages
4,847
Location
Nazareth, PA
I know some people from a local shop that went on an 'agricultural learning trip' and stopped at a few farms & factories to learn about tobacco growth & processing. Man I want to go there!!! I'm not 'in' the industry or have relatives there, so I'm waiting on the tours too...
 
Top