Fewer Americans Considering Travel to Cuba?

Empress of the Seas in HavanaAllianz Global Assistance has released the findings of a survey that show that a year since the U.S. government’s easing of travel restrictions to Cuba Americans are less interested in taking a trip to the country than in 2016.

The 2017 survey showed that 40 percent of Americans would be interested in taking a trip to Cuba (two percent fewer than in 2016) while the easing of travel restrictions made just 26 percent of Americans more interested in visiting the country (nine percent fewer than 2016). Seventy-six percent reported being unlikely to plan a trip to Cuba (six percent more than 2016).

While safety concerns and fear of communist government were major anxieties for Americans in 2016, those worries appear to be weakening this year. Instead, lack of information on Cuba’s travel experiences, travel infrastructure and internet/mobile connectivity are the factors making Americans less interested and likely to travel to Cuba.

Resorts and beaches remain the hot ticket items that would make Americans most interested and likely to travel to Cuba. That is still ahead of Cuba’s cultural attractions, Cuban food and rum, the Cuban people, classic 1950s American cars, Cuban cigars and family and friends.

The annual survey also measured sentiment and discovered that 34 percent of Americans think Cuba has changed for the better because of as a result of the U.S. having eased travel restrictions to the country.

“Our survey found that merely 2 percent of Americans think they will go to Cuba in the next six months, 2 percent believe they will make it there by the end of 2017 and 10 percent think they will go sometime in 2018,” said Daniel Durazo, director of communications at Allianz Global Assistance USA. “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 percent of Americans felt the recent announcements of cruise lines adding sailings to Cuba made them more interested in visiting the country.”

The survey also found that 15 percent of Americans believe the peace of mind of having travel insurance would make them more interested in traveling to Cuba.

And, offering travel insurance, Allianz added unsurprisingly that the survey also found that 15 percent of Americans believe the peace of mind of having travel insurance would make them more interested in traveling to Cuba.

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