Cuba seems to be gearing up to welcome American visitors for the first time for 47 years, with plans for a new exclusive hotel in the capital, Havana.
The US trade embargo and travel ban to Cuba has lasted since the missile crisis in 1962, but President Obama has said he wants improved ties between the two countries and has lifted restrictions on Cuban-American travel to Cuba. A travel bill, which would eliminate the ban on Americans visiting the island, is also pending in Congress.
Now it’s reported that the Hemingway Hotel, a Chinese-Cuban enterprise, is being developed, with one target the possible arrival of American cruise ships. The American cruise market is estimated at $15billion (£9.3 billion) and would drive much-needed funding into the island, which has struggled financially since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The 600-bed hotel will be built at the Hemingway Marina, just west of Havana, named after the famed US author, Ernest Hemingway, who lived in Cuba for many years.
Qatar and Cuba signed an agreement in May to build a $75 million (£46.5 million) luxury hotel on Cuba’s Cayo Largo.
by Andy Moreton
Among the many possibilities heralded by the election of President Obama is the re-opening of Cuba to American trade and tourism.
Although it lies only 90 miles from the southernmost point of the United States, Cuba is the only country in the world that Americans are banned from visiting as tourists. Exemptions are made for some journalists and academics with special permission from the State Department, while many other travellers flout the ban by flying via Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas.
Now Congress has introduced a bill that would allow all Americans to travel there. If passed, it would represent the most far-reaching revision of the restrictions imposed by Washington on the Caribbean island nearly 50 years ago.
The US imposed sanctions on travel and trade in 1962, three years after Fidel Castro took power. The US argument was that denying Castro revenue from trade and tourism dollars would undermine the Communist government.
One of the arguments put forward by members of Congress today in favour of lifting the ban is that Americans are free to visit other countries regarded as Communist, such as China and Vietnam.
But opponents argue that flooding Cuba with tourist dollars would only shore up the regime run by Raul Castro, who took over from his sick brother last year.
A thaw in relations seems increasingly likely. President Obama recently agreed to ease restrictions imposed by his predecessor, allowing Cuban-Americans to visit annually rather than once every three years. And the President is attending the Summit of The Americas in Trinidad later this month when new relations with Cuba are expected to surface.
What have Americans been missing? Well, according to the Lonely Planet travel guide, “Cuba, as well as having the usual Caribbean attractions in abundance … has one of the world’s most exciting (and bloody) histories, extraordinary musical and dance traditions all of its own and a rich national architecture that never ceases to astound.”
by Andy Moreton
