When US President Donald Trump recently announced he was
placing new restrictions on Americans traveling to Cuba, he said that
this would help investments go directly to the people and boost private
enterprises there.
But many Cuban entrepreneurs are
worried that by making it harder for individuals to travel to the
island, the changes could have the opposite effect.
Judith
Martinez converted her home into a bed and breakfast business located
in the leafy Vedado district of Havana, and business picked up after the
US restored diplomatic relations with Cuba.
Now she is worried about the future, following President
Trump’s announcement that he will make it more difficult for individual
travelers to come here.
“We have nine Americans
staying in the house right now. This is July, I’ve no idea how many I
will have in August, we’ve already had cancellations,” said Martinez.
Under the new rules, organized groups with still be allowed on strictly scheduled and monitored tours.
But they won’t be able to stay in hotels owned by the Cuban military which includes many of the country’s main hotels.
These
organized tours tend to attract an older, wealthier clientele who until
now have provided a booming business for the best top end private
restaurants.
It’s the younger, individual travelers
who mainly stay in private homes and apartments and are the lifeline for
many of the smaller private cafes, bars and restaurants in Havana.
For
the moment the old rules for travelling to Cuba still apply, as it
could take up to 90 days for President Donald Trump’s policy changes to
be published and go into effect.
But already many of Cuba’s private sector fears the worst.
Martinez takes bookings through the US online company, Airbnb, which now has 22,000 listings in Cuba.
According
to the company, its Cuban hosts have earned around 40 million dollars
over the past two years. Now they wonder how much longer it can last.