Cubans as tourists?

Until last year, Cuban citizens were not allowed to enter hotels and resorts on their own island—these were reserved exclusively for foreign tourists. The defense (which usually came from members of the regime, e.g. those whose job it was to defend the policy) was that the tourism industry in Cuba had been developed over the last 15-20 years as a strategic generator of revenue, and that widening access to Cuban citizens would only serve to create inequalities in a socialist society.

Those against the policy argued that the prohibition made Cubans second-class citizens in their own country, where their hardships and shortages were (and are) a world away from the tourist hotels, restaurants, services and shops.

Ultimately, the latter group won out. Raul Castro ended the ban last year and opened tourist facilities to all Cubans, at least technically.

Here, Reuters takes stock a year later of how the change has affected Cubans. The majority of Cubans do not make enough money to stay in hotels, even at their discounted rates, so the change makes little difference beyond its symbolic value.

Still, Cuba’s Tourism Minister claims that Cuban citizens have accounted for 10% of occupancy at high-end hotels this summer. This is not negligible: this fraction could help keep the tourism industry humming in hard times.