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Castro Talks With U.S. Tour Operators

By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer.

HAVANA, 19 - Cuban President Fidel Castro told American tour operators Sunday that if U.S. restrictions on travel are lifted, visitors will find Cuban tourism workers to be well-educated.

Tourism workers must have good knowledge of a broad range of subjects, Castro told the group during the surprise encounter at Havana's convention center.

"If not, how will they speak with the tourists?" he said.

On Sunday, about 40 U.S. tour operators visited Cuba, ignoring the Bush administration's crackdown on American travel to the communist island.

The Americans flew here for a firsthand look at tourist locales after a two-day Cuba travel conference in the Mexican Caribbean resort of Cancun.

"We are now asking when - and not if" the U.S. restrictions on travel to Cuba will be eliminated, said Matt Grayson, government affairs director for the National Tour Association.

U.S. travel companies have been fighting for an end to the restrictions, even as President Bush has pushed to tighten them.

"We are very hopeful that we can get something done this year" to end the restrictions, said Michael Zuccato of the Association of Travel Related Industry Professionals. "Americans should be allowed to travel anywhere in the world they wish."

After a morning flight to Havana, the group was whisked off for a tour of some of Havana's hotels, a walk across the cobblestone streets of historic Old Havana and a visit with communist officials in the Plaza of the Revolution.

Conference organizer Kirby Jones of Washington said a loophole in the U.S. travel restrictions allowed the operators to visit the island legally for the day because they were fully hosted and did not spend any money.

The group was flying back to Cancun on Sunday evening.

The U.S. Treasury Department effectively prohibits most Americans from traveling to Cuba by making it illegal for them to spend money on the island.

Earlier this year, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a measure blocking the Treasury Department from enforcing that ban.

The issue is now before the Senate, where the bill could be modified. President Bush has promised to veto it, even though it would hold up budgets for the Treasury and Transportation departments.

Americans at the conference doubted the Senate would pass the bill without modification this year.

"I think that we are better off if we look at this as the beginning of a process and not something that is going to happen soon," said Daniel E. Waltz, a Washington attorney.

Cuba's growing tourist industry accounts for 40 percent of the government's foreign income. Cuba expects 1.9 million tourists this year, mostly from Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, France and Britain.

About 185,000 U.S. residents and citizens visited Cuba last year, island officials said.

Of those, perhaps 40,000 came illegally through third countries such as Jamaica, Canada or Mexico to disguise their trips. Bush administration officials recently vowed to dedicate anti-terrorism resources to restrict that practice.

U.S. Tour Operators Visiting Cuba

By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer.

HAVANA, 19 - About 40 U.S. tour operators visited Cuba on Sunday, ignoring their government's toughening crackdown on American travel to the communist island.

The Americans flew here for a firsthand look at Cuba's tourist locales after a two-day Cuba travel conference in the Mexican Caribbean resort of Cancun.

U.S. travel companies have been fighting for an end to the restrictions, even as President Bush has pushed to tighten them.

After a morning flight to Havana, the group was whisked off for a tour of some of Havana's hotels, a walk across the cobblestone streets of historic Old Havana, and a visit with communist officials in the Plaza of the Revolution.

Conference organizer Kirby Jones of Washington said a loophole in the U.S. travel restrictions had allowed them to visit the island legally for the day because they were fully hosted and did not spend any money.

The group was flying back to Cancun Sunday evening.

The U.S. Treasury Department effectively prohibits most Americans from traveling here by making it illegal for them to spend money on the island.

Cuba's growing tourist industry accounts for 40 percent of the government's foreign income. It expects 1.9 million tourists this year, most from Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, France and Britain.

About 200,000 U.S. citizens visited Cuba last year, putting the United States second behind Canada as a source of travelers to the island, according to travel industry experts.

Of those, perhaps 50,000 came illegally through third countries such as Jamaica, Canada or Mexico to disguise their trips. Bush administration officials recently vowed to dedicate anti-terrorism resources to restrict that practice.

Industry Group Pushes Freer Travel to Cuba

By John Rice, Associated Press Writer.

CANCUN, Mexico, 18 - When lobbying efforts won America's farm industry a right to trade with Cuba, parts of the U.S. travel industry took note.

Now a small, new group led by charter flight operators has rallied support from some sizable business organizations to lobby for an end for U.S. limits on travel to Cuba.

"We are a large industry and sometimes we do not use the political power we have in terms of jobs, in terms of votes," said Brad Belt, executive director of the new Association of Travel Related Industry Professionals. The group organized a conference on Cuban travel that started here Friday.

If they are successful, President Fidel Castro's government could see a dramatic increase in the number of tourists - expected to be 1.9 million this year - who have become the island's largest source of hard currency.

The U.S. House of Representatives recently defied the Bush administration's wishes and voted to block enforcement of long-standing restrictions on travel to Cuba.

The issue, now before the Senate, would prevent the U.S. Treasury Department from enforcing laws against spending money in Cuba - which is the heart of the travel portion of the U.S. embargo against the communist island.

Association President Michael Zuccato, who has a Los Angeles-based company that flies charters to Cuba, said he started working on the association "after I saw what the agricultural groups did."

A law passed in 2000 allowed direct, cash-only food sales to Cuba.

Castro eventually agreed to buy some food after Hurricane Michelle hit the island in November 2001. That opening has led to increasing U.S. sales - and to growing calls from farm state lawmakers to end the 42-year Cuba embargo.

The push comes as the travel business faces one of its darkest periods. An economic slump, the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the SARS scare in Asia have decreased bookings.

"The travel industry in the last several years has been hurt badly," Zuccato said. "What you need is a new product."

Cuba, he said, could be that product - a safe, nearby land of beaches and colonial cities whose off-limits status has created a fascination for many Americans.

Miguel Figueras, adviser to Cuba's Tourism Ministry, told the conference that some 77,000 U.S. citizens not of Cuban heritage visited the island last year. He said about half were considered illegal by the U.S. government.

"People are coming to Cuba. We think they should do it legally, they should do it the right way and they should use travel operators to do it," said Matt Grayson, the government affairs director for the National Tour Association.

The Cancun conference won the sponsorship of the 89-year-old National Foreign Trade Council, which includes some of America's largest companies, and several large national travel industry associations that oppose most trade sanctions on principle.

Jody Frisch, director of U.S.-Cuba policy for a wing of the Foreign Trade Council, said that while Cuba is a small market for most companies, business people often have "a human reaction that's almost visceral: 'What do you mean I can't travel somewhere?'"

Officials at the conference estimated that 1 million to 1.5 million Americans might visit in the first year after travel limits were lifted.

"Pent-up demand is going to be huge," said Robert Whitley, president of the United States Tour Operators Association, which represents companies handling 10 million tourists a year.

Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, France and Britain are now Cuba's top tourist sources - though legal, family visits by Cuban-Americans put the United States among the leading sources of visitors and money.

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