Majority of Americans Support Open Travel to Cuba

Multiple sources expect the Trump administration to reverse some Obama-era policies toward Cuba.

If that’s true, the President appears to be in the minority.

The Sun Sentinel reports a new poll showing 65 percent of Americans support policies that expand trade and tourism with Cuba.

Meanwhile, just 18 percent are in opposition to former President Barack Obama’s policy aimed at easing tensions and travel restrictions between the two nations.

According to the poll, which was conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of Engage Cuba, six out of 10 Republicans are in favor of eased travel and trade restrictions. Perhaps even more surprising, 44 percent of Trump voters strongly or somewhat support travel to Cuba without U.S. government restriction, according to the American Society of Travel Agents’ (ASTA) 2017 Consumer Research study, “How America Travels.”

Nearly one-third of Trump supporters have no opinion on the matter while only 27 percent strongly or somewhat oppose eased travel to Cuba.

PHOTO: A majority of Americans support travel to Cuba without US government restriction. (image courtesy of ASTA’s 2017 Consumer Research study ‘How America Travels’)

Six out of 10 Americans overall are also in favor of ending the trade embargo and opening the door for Americans to visit the island as tourists, according to the Engage Cuba poll. U.S. travelers must currently obtain a license from the government under one of 12 different categories of approved travel.

“The overwhelming support of the American people for continuing this policy of Cuba engagement should serve as a warning flag to President Trump,” Engage Cuba President James Williams said in a statement.

It’s worth noting that Engage Cuba is an organization seeking to eliminate restrictions on travel and business between the U.S. and Cuba.

The survey polled nearly 2,000 American voters late last month and comes just two weeks after a bipartisan group of U.S. senators reintroduced legislation designed to repeal all travel restrictions to Cuba. Originally introduced with just eight Republican and Democratic sponsors in 2015, the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act now has support from 55 co-sponsors, including 10 Republicans.

Trump is nonetheless expected to announce changes to U.S. policy on Cuba in Miami on Friday, according to the Sentinel.

“We’re hopeful that a dramatic campaign-style event in Miami is more of a symbolic gesture to appease two Cuban-American Members of Congress, rather than an unveiling of substantive changes to policies that are supported by a bipartisan majority of Congress and the American people,” stated Williams.

Needless to say, the travel and tourism industry will be watching closely to see what if any changes are coming. The implications could be massive, with Reuters estimating a rollback of Obama-era policies could set the industry back by as much as $712 million.

Meanwhile, a new economic impact analysis released by Engage Cuba earlier this month estimates that a policy reversal could cost the U.S. economy $6.6 billion and affect nearly 12,300 American jobs over the course of the Trump administration’s first term, including $3.5 billion and 10,150-plus jobs in the airline and cruise line industries.

Gulf states including Florida could suffer the most given their proximity to Cuba.

“Our new relationship with Cuba has led to tangible results for American companies, created U.S. jobs, and strengthened Cuba’s growing private sector. If President Trump rolled back our Cuba policy, he would add job-killing government regulations on U.S. businesses,” said Williams in a statement.

“Reimposing restrictions on traveling to Cuba would force Americans to jump through even more bureaucratic hoops to exercise their right to travel freely.”

Source: http://www.travelpulse.com/news/impacting-travel/majority-of-americans-support-open-travel-to-cuba.html