Cuba to compete with Florida tourism

Cuba to compete with Florida tourism
By Douglas Hanks | McClatchy/Tribune news
May 4, 2009

MIAMI - -- At a recent meeting in a Key West ballroom, local tourism
leaders didn't ratify just a contingency plan for the day Washington
lifts all travel restrictions on Cuba. They approved some slogans too.

"We're Making History Again" would promote tours of historic homes in
Havana and Key West.

"So Much to Catch Up On" is the tagline for a hypothetical fishing
tournament off both islands. And for trips splitting time between the
two popular tourist spots, the Keys plans this promotional campaign:
"Two Nations. One Vacation."

Florida's Monroe County's updated 10-page "Cuba Strategic Marketing
Plan" reflects the growing attention Cuba is getting from Florida's
tourism industry. With the White House last month lifting travel
restrictions for Cuban-Americans, the debate shifted to what could be
the next step: allowing all Americans to visit the Communist island.

Politics aside, that possibility has long been a concern for vacation
spots in Florida that fear competition from the lush and exotic island.
Studies predict as many as 2 million Americans would vacation in Cuba in
the years after the end of travel restrictions.

That potential has the Sunshine State studying how to prepare its top
industry for an American tourism boom 90 miles from its shores.

The state's tourism office, Visit Florida, issued a report in 2002 that
warned one in five Florida vacationers would pick Cuba over the Sunshine
State if given a choice. Last week, officials at the tourism board
downplayed the threat from a country with fewer hotel rooms than Detroit.

"But it is also safe to say there will be demand by Americans to see an
island that has not been available to them for 50 years," Visit Florida
President Bud Nocera wrote in an e-mail last month. "We believe that if
and when Americans are allowed to travel to Cuba, much of that travel
will be done from Florida."

Florida tourism bureaus see Cuba's reputation for poor accommodations as
their biggest defense. The island is known for some of the best
Caribbean beaches but also barebones service and budget accommodations.

"The service, the food, the restaurants really are as bad as the
reputation," said Christopher Baker, author of a travel guide to Cuba.

Already the Caribbean's second most popular destination behind the
Dominican Republic, Cuba reported a 9 percent increase in foreign
tourists last year, welcoming roughly 2.3 million, according to the
Caribbean Tourism Organization.

Cuba to compete with Florida tourism -- chicagotribune.com (4 May 2009)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-tc-biz-trav-cuba-florida-050may04,0,5158003.story