A little more than a year ago, things were looking rosy for Cuban entrepreneurs in the burgeoning tourism hubs of Havana, Cienfuegos, and Trinidad.

Those with culinary training were opening ambitious paladars and employing large numbers of locals to chop, sauté, wash, and bus tables. Classic car owners were polishing their 1954 Chevys and leveraging them to start tour companies. And artists—fashion designers, jewelers, painters, sculptors—were taking commissions from art enthusiasts eager to explore an untapped market.

The year 2017 was record-setting for foreign visitation to Cuba. According to government figures, the tiny Caribbean island welcomed 4.7 million travelers over those 12 months, pulling in $3 billion in tourism revenue and showing an 18 percent increase in visitors from a year earlier. With 619,000 of them coming from the U.S., the spending power of Americans was becoming as clear as when the Andrews Sisters recorded their iconic calypso tune about “workin’ for the Yankee dollar” in 1945.  

But in June of last year, President Trump announced  new travel regulations for Americans, and the rum-and-coke-slinging crowds in Havana slowed to a trickle. Then came Irma, and on its heels a series of mysterious sonic attacks. By the time the U.S. administration released its updated travel policies in November, American tourism to Cuba had plummeted.

“The market froze for a few months,” says Chad Olin, founder and chief executive officer of Cuba Candela, a luxury-focused Cuba travel outfit. “It’s amazing how much confusion these headlines caused.”

The silver lining is that travelers don’t need to reshuffle their itineraries altogether—not when they can get a little extra hand-holding from an agency like Olin’s. In fact, amid reports of fewer crowds, improved infrastructure, and a wider variety of tapped-in experiences on the ground, now may be the best time yet to visit Cuba, no matter where you’re coming from.

Why All Travelers Stand to Benefit
Travelers of all nationalities stand to reap certain rewards by going to Cuba this year. “If you go back to December 2016 [when tourism was peaking], there were just too many people in Havana,” says Olin. “The infrastructure was stretched to its capacity.”

It took time to better pave the roads, tighten service at restaurants, renovate old hotels, set up functioning Wi-Fi connections—the list goes on. Now Cubans are able to meet higher levels of demand, but the crowds aren’t there. As a result, Olin says, “getting reservations at restaurants is easier. The best five-star hotels can be booked with less advance notice. We aren’t seeing overbookings like we used to—when you would arrive at a restaurant or hotel and your table or room isn’t there anymore.”

For outfitters such as Abercrombie & Kent, this translates to more intimate and authentic experiences. “If you go now, you’re not going to have tour bus after tour bus lined up for the same experience,” says Stefanie Schmudde, vice president for product development and operations. “You’re able to spend more time engaging with the locals when there’s less churn and burn.”

First « 1 2 3 » Next