ISI Group: Cuba

Everyone is always trying to visit the new hot locations to stay up with travel trends. For American’s, this is no Cuba. For now, the process to be granted permission to travel to Cuba is quite stringent and looks promising to become easier in the future.

Travel bans have recently been lifted to now allow some civilian traffic onto Cuban soil. In order to do so, you have to apply and be approved by the U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control. Travel to Cuba for American’s has yet to be open to tourism. Instead, travelers are going on an education based programs. These programs are designed to educate visitors on Cuban culture and to what I think will help American’s become acclimated with a culture that has been so close to home.

Getting to Cuba will take some logistical planning as there are no commercial flights from the U.S. to Cuba right now. To get to Cuba you have to take a privately chartered flight out of Miami. It is roughly a one hour flight from Miami to Cuba.

Once you arrive in Cuba, you will notice that American’s are actually well received by locals. English is widely spoken, despite Spanish being their official language. The locals enjoy chatting with American’s, so don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation. Just remember to remain mindful of their culture, as things can be vastly different than those of the United States. Due to the embargo American companies have not been able to set up shop for American’s. What this means is your credit cards and cell phones will not work while you are in Cuba. Be sure to bring plenty of cash for your entire stay. Look at the bright side, you won’t go over budget on your spending and you will be completely disconnected for total relaxation.

Give us a call today and let the ISI Group help you along the way to this not so new, but foreign neighbor.