Tauck, the global tour operator based in Wilton, Conn., is returning to Cuba after a lapse of four years. When a historically trend-setting operator like Tauck makes a big move like this, it indicates that there is movement in the marketplace that others will also be responding to. It means, keep an eye on Cuba. That market may be picking up again.
The significance of this move, to be appreciated, must be seen in light of the rocky, off-on-off-on history of U.S. government restrictions on travel by American citizens to Cuba. From the standpoint of freedom to travel or operate businesses in the Cuba travel market, Tauck’s move, and the trend it seems to signal, are good news.
Cuba is full of paradoxes. It’s one of the closest destinations to the United States, only 90 miles over water. But it’s also one of the most exotic and inaccessible destinations for Americans.
Because of its separation from the U.S. by a trade embargo for the last 60 years, Cuba has evolved into the modern age very differently from the US As a result it presents an environment that is more strikingly different for Americans than you will find in many countries much farther away. Many of those differences are highly refreshing. It’s a fabulous tropical island country with beautiful, creative and highly resourceful people.
Tauck’s decision to go back to Cuba after four years follows a loosening of restrictions by the Biden administration in 2022. In practical terms, the difference is more about perception than actual accessibility. Trump’s announcement that he was “canceling” Obama’s opening effectively cooled the market. But legal travel to Cuba was actually still possible after that.
The differences in the policies between one president and the next cause travelers and tour operators to have to scramble around, and change their policies to adapt to government policy changes. But tour operators have devised work-arounds that make it possible for them to continue taking groups to Cuba.
Under Trump individual travel was eliminated as an option. The People to People category of travel was eliminated, but operators could still take groups under the category of “support for the Cuban people.” That is the category under which Tauck is operating its tours, even though the Biden administration did re-introduce the People to People category. From the travelers’ point of view, it doesn’t make much difference. The tour operators are the ones who have to deal with the regulatory headaches for the most part, not the clients.
The Trump restrictions made it illegal for tour operators to use hotels that were owned or partly owned by the Cuban government. That changed the playing field, but operators have found ways to work around that. Though the restriction reduced the available supply of rooms, there are alternative hotels that have no Cuban government ownership. The Grand Aston La Habana, where Tauck guests will be staying, is one of those alternative hotels.
Tauck’s Cuban Choreography
Tauck is offering a seven-day program called “Cuba: A Cultural Odyssey.” The program is priced from $6,490 per person double occupancy. Guests will gather in Florida for a night at the Hyatt Regency Coral Gables before departing from Miami for Cuba.
In Cuba, they will be stationed in Havana at the Grand Aston La Habana for five nights. Tauck has fashioned an itinerary based on creating cultural experiences and interactions with Cuban people. Government restrictions require a lot of interaction between American travelers and Cuban people, and that ends up being a good thing. The experiences of visiting local artists, dancers, car sculptors, and so forth, are priceless. They take you much deeper into the destination than a more superficial engagement would.
The Tauck itinerary includes a walking tour of Old Havana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; a visit to a tobacco farm in the Viñales Valley, with a cigar-rolling tutorial and tasting; a visit to a vintage American car club; a tour of the Cuba home of Ernest Hemingway, who spent much of his life there during 1939 and 1960; and many meetings with local artists, musicians, dancers, farmers and a star baseball player.
Tauck has set six departures for this coming fall, and they are all sold out. Departures for 2025 are set for January-April and October-December, and they are already selling briskly, according to Joanne Gardner, Tauck’s vice president of global operations.
Troubled Love-Hate History
Cuba is unique in many ways, and one of them is the fact that it’s one of the only places where travel by Americans is controlled by the U.S. government. It goes back to the early 1960s when a trade embargo was placed on Cuba over a number of hot political issues of the time. The embargo has been in effect since that time, some six decades ago.
Because of the embargo, it is illegal for Americans to spend any money in Cuba. Near the end of his term, President Bill Clinton established policies that provided some loopholes that made it possible for Americans to travel to Cuba even though the embargo was still in effect. But under the embargo, every dollar spent must be approved by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) under the Department of Commerce. It adds a layer of complications and difficulty to operating in that market. But the demand for travel to Cuba has been strong enough to make it worth the trouble of working through those regulations for many operators. It changes with the political winds. The market for travel to Cuba continues to be an up-and-down roller coaster ride.
Clinton opened travel to Cuba under the auspices of a program called People to People, which had been originally established by President Eisenhower in the 1950s for travel to the Soviet Union despite tensions between the U.S. and the USSR. People-to-people travel was a special carve-out of the embargo, but the embargo remains in place.
In general the trend has been for Republican presidents to tighten the regulations on travel to Cuba, and for Democratic presidents to loosen them. After Clinton left office, President George W. Bush tightened up again. President Obama loosened regulations to a greater extent than any other president. He opened the market about as much as could be done by presidential executive order. To repeal the embargo would require an act of Congress. So good luck on that.
Obama opened up Cuba for American travelers and travel businesses in 2015, near the end of his term. It restored the Clinton opening and took it further, bringing it the closest to free travel between the countries in generations.
The changes under Obama allowed individual travel, without having to be part of a group. That was later eliminated by Trump. In June of 2022, President Biden loosened the regulations on travel to Cuba a little. Under those policy changes, U.S. airlines could again fly to other cities besides Havana. Biden also removed the cap on the number of flights that had been imposed by Trump. And it opened the door for People to People travel again.
And that’s where we are now. Where it goes next is no more certain than trying to predict the political future. That’s always a selling point for Cuba. Go while you can. You never know what’s coming next. And Cuba is a priceless travel experience.
David Cogswell is a freelance writer working remotely, from wherever he is at the moment. Born at the dead center of the United States during the last century, he has been incessantly moving and exploring for decades. His articles have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Fortune, Fox News, Luxury Travel Magazine, Travel Weekly, Travel Market Report, Travel Agent Magazine, TravelPulse.com, Quirkycruise.com, and other publications. He is the author of four books and a contributor to several others. He was last seen somewhere in the Northeast US.
