CubaTrade-One-Flip

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TOURISM ONE IF BY SEA Only one U.S. cruise line has tested the water so far, but others are ready to go By Carlos Harrison 22 CUBATRADE DEC 2016
Residents of Havana gave a warm welcome to the cruise ship Adonia <strong>One</strong> of the iconic moments of rapprochement between the U.S. and Cuba came last May, when the 704-passenger ship Adonia made port in Havana. As passengers disembarked, they were warmly welcomed by throngs of Cuban citizens, and hopes were high that the landfall augured a new era of seaborne tourists visiting not only Havana, but other ports of call such as Cienfuegos and Santiago. Flash forward six months, and Fathom, the Carnival Cruise Line subsidiary that embarked the Adonia from Miami, has now made a dozen fully-booked trips to Cuba. “Cuba as a destination holds great potential for Fathom since there is so much pent up demand to travel [there] from the U.S.,” says Tara Russell, President of Fathom. Nonetheless, it sails alone, at least from the U.S. Despite their eagerness to flood a nearly virgin market, however, none of the other cruise lines clamoring to carry Americans directly from ports in the United States to the once-forbidden island of Cuba have received permission from the Cuban government. “It’s clearly evident that the Cubans are not rushing into this,” says cruise industry expert Stewart Chiron. “They’ll do as much or as little as they want, and they don’t care what anybody thinks. They’re going to re-engage the world at their pace.” After Fathom’s maiden voyage other major cruise companies, including Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Line, announced plans to follow suit –– only to pull back after failing to get the necessary permits. The month after Adonia’s first sailing, Royal Caribbean’s CEO said his lines’ trips could begin as early as July. It brought the 1,840-passenger Empress of the Seas back from its Spanish subsidiary and reportedly spent $50 million refurbishing the ship for Miami-Havana voyages. At the end of July, it pushed bookings back to the end of October. “This is the right sized vessel for Cuba, and our intention is someday we will be going there,” Vicki Freed, Royal Caribbean's senior vice president for sales, trade services and support, said at the time. “We’re just still waiting for the nod.” Norwegian has been in the same boat. “I’m literally waiting for the phone to ring to get the final, final approval from the Cuban government,” company CEO Frank Del Rio said in July. But as of November, itineraries showed the Regatta, the ship it slotted for the Cuba trips, still floating around the island’s eastern end on a Puerto Rico, Grenada, St. Barts-plus voyage. “I’ve been writing about the cruise industry for 35, 40 years,” says U.K.- based industry analyst Tony Peisley. “For the entire 40 years, U.S. lines have been waiting for Cuba to open up. It would give such a huge boost to their business in the Caribbean.” It would also give a boost to tourism in Cuba, which has become a top priority for the Cuban government. And while cruise passengers typically spend less than land-based travelers, the cruise ships temporarily solve one of the bottle necks for the tourist sector—not enough hotel rooms to meet the demand. <strong>One</strong> reason Cuba may be holding back on allowing more cruises is for prac- Continued on page 25 DEC 2016 CUBATRADE 23
Page 1: CUBA AFTER FIDEL: THE ECONOMIC IMPA
Page 5 and 6: AMERICAS TRADE SHOWS: The World Tra
Page 7 and 8: How do we move food from Hastings t
Page 9 and 10: CONGRATULATIONS CUBA TRADE MAGAZINE
Page 12 and 13: PANORAMA Deals, events and transact
Page 14 and 15: INDEX THE RISE OF CASH & GOODS TRAN
Page 16 and 17: IDEAS + INNOVATION Tapping New Tale
Page 18 and 19: INTERVIEW A Q&A with James Williams
Page 20 and 21: TRANSITIONS ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS
Page 22: REGULATIONS 6 And Now for Round Wha
Page 27 and 28: also found a clever way to connect
Page 29 and 30: Doing Business in Cuba - Market Ent
Page 31 and 32: investments correspond to what the
Page 33 and 34: THE VIP GUIDE Modern Facilities: Th
Page 36 and 37: SCIENCE Swimming with the (Cuban) s
Page 38 and 39: MANUFACTURING A NEW FURROW How a mu
Page 40 and 41: LEGISLATION The Legislative Outlook
Page 42 and 43: TRADE Importing the Forbidden Fruit
Page 44 and 45: FLYING
Page 46 and 47: The Boeing 737 glides over the powd
Page 48 and 49: Havana Air has carved out a uniquel
Page 51 and 52: PUERTO RICO: THE U.S. BRIDGE TO CUB
Page 53 and 54: In one telling sign, the Pew Resear
Page 55 and 56: Signs of protest against U.S. “co
Page 57 and 58: HOME WITH HELP FROM U.S. COMPANIES,
Page 59 and 60: An internet hotspot in a park in Sa
Page 61 and 62: public access points for internet a
Page 63 and 64: THE SEEDS OF CHANGE The Agriculture
Page 65 and 66: The Cuban people deserve the opport
Page 67 and 68: Photo courtesy of USACC Paul Johnso
Page 69 and 70: World and U.S. Agricultural Exports
Page 71 and 72: Chicken is the number one thing tha
Page 73 and 74:
ARKANSAS LEADS THE CHARGE How One S
Page 75 and 76:
ARKANSAS AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT aad
Page 77 and 78:
We had a historic trade relationshi
Page 79 and 80:
SAM WALTON DIDN’T DISCOUNT ARKANS
Page 81 and 82:
Gov. Hutchinson (center) and Michae
Page 83 and 84:
Arkansas International Business Ser
Page 85 and 86:
Arkansas: The State of Agriculture
Page 87 and 88:
DEC 2016 CUBATRADE 85
Page 89 and 90:
notebook The initial commercial fli
Page 91 and 92:
Santa Clara's top tourist attractio
Page 93 and 94:
The new generation of Cuban visual
Page 95 and 96:
Two photographs (left and right) fr
Page 98:
in closing A New Generation for U.S
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