Cuba Travel Warning Downgrade: A Nonevent

Last week, the U.S. State Department downgraded its travel advisory for Cuba from Level 3 to Level 2, but hardly anyone noticed.

At least, that’s how it appears from the viewpoint of Tom Popper, president of insightCuba, one of the leading providers of tours to Cuba, since People to People travel was made legal in 2000.

“I don’t think the public at large has been made aware of the decrease,” said Popper. “I think Reuters reported it, and a couple of other publications.”

A quick Googling of “US State Department Downgrades Cuba Travel Advisory” will produce Travel Market Report’s coverage and that of a few other publications. For most people who don’t read those publications, the downgrade was a nonevent.

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U.S. State Department Downgrades Cuba Travel Advisory

When the level was raised last September, it was a splashy story in the mainstream media, accompanied by rumors about a possible “sonic attack” in the U.S. Embassy, which eventually turned out to have no basis in fact. The story of the downgrade, however, got no traction. Now, after months of relentless news coverage of more exciting or frightening things, the attention of the public has moved on.

“It hasn’t made headlines, as compared to when the level went up,” said Popper, “so I don’t even know that people are aware of it. But, for but for those people who do pay attention to the State Department advisories, it certainly helps that it is a Level 2 and not a Level 3, so that’s a huge benefit. And from all accounts, the Cubans were delighted to see it because they felt it was unjust, as we did.”

The coding of the State Department Travel Advisory system is as follows: Level 1 – Exercise normal precautions; Level 2 – Exercise increased caution; Level 3 – Reconsider travel; and Level 4 – Do not travel.

When Cuba was moved from Level 3 to Level 2, it was put in good company with France, Denmark, Germany, Spain, the U.K., Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Antarctica.

News fatigue
Travel to Cuba has been on the increase since the drop, last fall, following the issuance of the advisory, but it’s mostly just a matter of news fatigue.

“Things have been getting steadily better, with increasing interest in travel to Cuba,” said Popper. “The decrease in the warning level was nice, but I think most people have moved on from all the news of 2017, and that is why we’re seeing the increase in interest, leads, booking and web traffic.” 

People who know Cuba never gave the sonic attack story or the travel advisory it engendered much credence.

“Those of us who work in Cuba and send lots of people there, have been saying that from the beginning, which is why the original increase in the warning level in September was unwarranted,” said Popper. “While they were trying to figure out what had happened at the embassy, there was really no proof that it affected the millions of tourists that were traveling to Cuba.”

Safe country, warm welcome
Apart from the accusations of a sonic attack, Cuba is well known to be a very safe country for Americans to travel in. Earlier this year, the Madrid International Tourism Fair gave Cuba its excellence award as the “safest country” in the world.

“Cuba remains an incredibly safe country for Americans to travel to, on all fronts,” said Popper. “We hear it from our passengers all the time, how safe they felt, the warmth of people. We’ve heard this from travelers since 2000, for 18 years. There has been such animosity between the two governments for so long, for more than five decades, that when Americans go there, it’s always the question of ‘How will Americans be treated in Cuba?’

“Our guests are always amazed at how warm and welcoming to Americans the Cubans are, and how they are so grateful to have Americans in Cuba because they love America, they love Americans. They love so much about our culture and our country that they’ve always felt it is in no way representative of the people in the country. People come back and say, ‘It’s so the opposite of what I thought.’”

A 2015 survey of members of the U.S. Tour Operators Association rated Cuba the number one emerging destination. In 2016, the same poll placed Cuba at number one as both the top emerging destination and the hottest destination. It was the first time one country had ever topped both categories. But, after last year’s travel warnings and President Trump’s announcement that he was “canceling” Obama’s policies of opening Cuba, interest dropped precipitously.

All that is business as usual for Cuban travel, and now the destination is building itself back, day by day.