The Opening of Key West to Havana Travel
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Inevitably, travel will reopen between Key West and Havana. Is the island city ready for additional visitors? KWHx spoke with Jodi Weinhofer, President of the Lodging Association of the Florida Keys and Key West. More than ready, she assured me - the Lodging Association members were eager. They were quick to recognize that we'll not only welcome Americans on their way to Havana, but also visitors who've made a side-trip to Key West part of their Cuban vacation - a number that could start at an increase to Key West of a quarter million visitors a year. The historical and cultural links between the two islands only ninety miles apart should mean that travelers interested in one location are truly interested in both. To facilitate direct travel between the islands, one of the Association's current projects is to assist with the request that Key West's ports and airport be officially recognized as access points.

Serving as further impetus for their actions, word came that during the first week of June, at a US - Cuba Relations symposium in Jamaica, Washington think-tank representatives from both Inter-American Dialogue and Center for Democracy in the Americas spoke of their beliefs the travel ban will be lifted for all Americans by September or October. I.A.D.'s Daniel Erikson went on to say, "I think that the lifting of the travel ban is exactly right. The debate in the US today is about lifting the ban on ability of ordinary Americans to travel to Cuba and I see this as being the thread that if you pull it, it can unravel the whole sweater." Erikson added that travel to Cuba will lead to US businesses lobbying congress to lift the embargo. "The notion of tourists going to Cuba staying in Spanish and Canadian hotels driving around on Chinese buses. Only the food is American - nothing else. This is going to get American business interested. And once you mobilize the US business community then you start to get some real political weight behind change beyond the intellectual arguments being made. So I think what we need to watch for is the vote on the travel ban."

Also in June, American travel writers were invited to Cuba and asked to report back on the current state of tourism affairs. Each covered topics we'd expect - the old cars on the streets, the Hotels, the music. Damien Jaques, writing for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, then wrote of the people: "They follow American politics, have detailed knowledge of President Barack Obama and his background and are excited about the prospect of him improving relations with Cuba. Obama campaign buttons and T-shirts are prized possessions that can be openly worn."

Catherine Watson of Universal Press noted, "When the USSR went, so did Cuba's economy. As the island struggled to get back on its feet, Cubans endured all sorts of shortages, from food and gasoline to toiletries, even soap. Cuba turned to tourism, forming joint partnerships with foreign developers and building strings of high-quality beach hotels, starting on Varadero Beach, a long, sandy peninsula east of Havana. By 1996, tourism had replaced sugar as Cuba's biggest industry, and it is still growing." Watson also reported of "more restaurants, more sights, and more pricey shops to keep (visitors) busy." Close to three million people visited Cuba last year - and their tourism industry continues to grow and improve.

Voices for change are getting louder on both sides of the Florida Straits - and progress continues.