Tour Ops Hopeful For a Cuba Visa Solution
by Robin Amster /Travel to Cuba is unlikely to be affected by the Cuban government’s suspension last week of consular services, including issuing visas to the island nation.
That was the message from U.S. tour operators with licenses to operate the increasingly popular people-to-people programs that are Americans’ only means of visiting the country legally.
Clients traveling to Cuba this month already have their visas, tour operators told Travel Market Report. The operators also expect the Cuban and U.S. governments to resolve the issue sooner than later.
“There’s a huge interest on both sides, the U.S. and Cuba, in getting this problem fixed efficiently,” said Tom Popper, president of Insight Cuba.
“All the powers that be are working on an interim and a long-term solution”
No banking services
The shutdown followed an announcement by the Cuban Interests Section in Washington—Havana’s diplomatic mission in the U.S.—that its bank, M&T Bank, would no longer provide banking services to foreign missions.
In a statement, the Cuban Interests Section said M&T informed it in July of its decision to divest itself of all of its diplomatic accounts. Since then it has been trying unsuccessfully to find another bank to handle its U.S. accounts, the statement said.
A State Department spokesperson said it has been working with the Cubans to identify a new bank.
Working it out
Insight Cuba has 350 to 400 clients traveling to Cuba this month with another estimated 375 going in January, said Popper.
He said a small number of clients have expressed concern but “even today, it’s busy with people booking tours.”
“On the face of it, it may sound bad but the end result is it’s going to get worked out,” Popper said of the visa issue.
Brisk business
U.S. tour operators have been reporting brisk business to Cuba this year.
More than 98,000 Americans visited the island nation in 2012, up by 33% over 2011, according to Cuban government figures.
The people-to-people programs are operated by tour firms licensed by the U.S. Office of Asset Control (OFAC). The program was implemented by President Clinton in 1999, suspended by President Bush in 2004 and restored by President Obama in 2011.
Popper said licensed tour operators are required to secure the Cuba visas, also called tourist cards, for clients. “It’s a very simple visa that doesn’t require a significant advance application,” he explained.
In most cases, Insight Cuba provides the tourist cards along with travelers’ air tickets presented to them on departure at the airport.
Solutions
A possible solution to the current problem would be for clients to get—and fill out—the tourist cards when they arrive in Havana and before they pass through immigration, although that would likely mean longer lines at immigration, Popper said.
Steve Cox, executive director of International Expeditions (IE), said if the problem persists the IE’s flight service to Cuba, which flies to Havana six days a week, will pick up tourist cards issued in Havana and bring them back to Miami, bypassing Washington, “so that regular American travelers going with IE will not see anything different.”
Cox said it’s Cuban-Americans, who need a different type of visa, who may be affected by the consular services shutdown.
“We understand that the U.S. government is working to help resolve the banking issue because it is to everyone’s best interest to do so,” said Cox.
International Expeditions has two small-group departures this month which are unaffected. It has six sold-out departures for January.
Newer entrant
Newer to the Cuba market is Friendly Planet Travel which acquired its Cuba license two years ago.
Its president Peggy Goldman said the company has sent an estimated 2,000 people to Cuba this year and has bookings through September 2014. The few hundred clients it has traveling this month are not affected by the visa issue.
“There’s a lot of sensitivity about banking because of the [U.S.] embargo of Cuba,” said Goldman. “But I sincerely doubt this will be a problem for very long.
“This is a bureaucratic snafu that will resolve itself with a little bit of time,” she added. “This program [people-to-people travel] is in no danger of shutting down because of the visa issue.”