(3 Oct 2017) American tourism to Cuba could suffer a major blow now that the U.S. State Department has eric church issued a travel warning against the island, potentially cutting off travel by tens of thousands of U.S. citizens who have flocked to the country since diplomatic relations were restored in 2015.
The hardest hit might be the thousands of private Cuban business owners who coventry airport closure poured money into private homes, restoring classic cars and opening restaurants to cash in on the expected wave of American visitors.
Tourism is the one bright spot in Cuba's ailing economy, bringing in billions in hard currency, while also providing employment and income to the growing private sector.
With the dampening effect of the travel restriction, locals fear Americans will avoid visiting the island, and even lead to lower numbers of European visitors to Cuba.
Cuba was on pace to set a new record of visitors to the country in 2017, with over 4 million tourists visiting the island, sj earthquakes including over 160,000 Americans.
Private business owners with classic American cars, restaurants and private homes have done a brisk business catering to these U.S. visitors.
Now many fear the expected boom from U.S. visitors to the island will turn into a bust, as the travel warning, and new restrictions from the Trump Administration on the so-called "people-to-people" category of visitors to the island are tightened.
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