Americans already losing interest in Cuba
A year after the US government relaxed its travel restrictions to Cuba, Allianz Global Assistance is reporting that fewer Americans are interested in taking a trip to the country.
A survey issued annually by Allianz found that 40 per cent of Americans would consider a trip to Cuba, which is a two-per-cent drop on last year’s figures, while the easing of travel restrictions made just 26 per cent of Americans more interested in visiting the country – nine percent fewer than 2016.
For 12 per cent of Americans, the fact that Cuba still has a Communist government is a major cause for concern, whilst general safety concerns are a reason that a third of US travellers would not be keen on travelling to the country. Over a fifth of responders feel that they do not know enough about travel experiences in Cuba, 13 per cent do not have enough information on the country’s infrastructure and nine per cent worry about the lack of internet access.
Despite these concerns, those that do want to travel to country would do so because of the resorts and beaches (32 per cent), the country’s cultural attractions (23 per cent), Cuban food and rum (13 per cent), classic 1950’s American cars (nine per cent), Cuban cigars (seven per cent) and family and friends (two per cent).
The survey also measured sentiment and discovered that 34 per cent of Americans think Cuba has changed for the better as a result of the US having eased travel restrictions to the country.
Daniel Durrazo, director of communications at Allianz Global Assistance US, discussed how these results could change in the future: “Airlines continue to change their services to Cuba, while cruise lines are revving up sailings to the island. It will be interesting to see how this affects visitors’ interest. It may be having initial effects as Allianz’s cruise survey from earlier in the year showed that 17 per cent of Americans felt the recent announcements of cruise lines adding sailings to Cuba made them more interested in visiting the country.”