Ready to transport thousands of U.S. tourists?

The U.S. Travel Association has commended Pres. Obama for lifting restrictions on Cuban Americans’ family visits to Cuba. And why not? The news is expected to bring an uptick for at least in one tiny neighborhood of the travel industry — the charter companies that fly from Miami and New York to Cuba.

To be sure, Cuban Americans comprise only 0.5 percent of the U.S. population. It would be a much bigger boost for airlines and cruise lines if travel opens up for the other 99.5 percent. Will that happen? There is a bill in Congress that would do just that, but it’s uncertain if it will have enough votes to pass.

Time magazine says lifting the travel ban would be a good step toward engagement with Cuba. Others simply wonder if Cuba could handle an onslaught of curious (and demanding) American travelers.

That is a valid concern. A friend of mine once led a university-organized group of highly educated and well-off Americans on a tour of Cuba, and she came back exhausted by her clients’ unsatisfied demands. One group member was outraged that she could not be met at the plane by a wheelchair as she was in U.S. airports — never mind that after years of the U.S. embargo, medical supplies of all kind are in short supply on the island.

Then again, despite living in a Communist economy, Cubans are as entrepreneurial as anyone else, if not more so. Cuba allows its citizens to host tourists in their homes in exchange for rent and feed them in cozy home-based restaurants, where some of the best food on the island can be had. These small business people have already been providing a large part of the country’s tourism infrastructure, and this is a system that could quickly expand to meet demand.

If the travel ban is lifted for all Americans, it could be a great thing for Cuba, for adventurous Americans, and for the airlines that would bring them there. There would certainly be bumps in the road, especially when American high expectations collide with reality in a country where nearly everything is in short supply and customer service is a relic of the pre-Castro past.

Probably the best thing American companies organizing trips to a newly available Cuba could do is manage expectations. If travelers are made aware that they need to bring their own granola bars and that they probably won’t be able to buy a swimsuit larger than a size medium*, things should go more smoothly. And the best part is, as American tourism dollars flow in — and especially if the trade embargo were lifted along with the travel ban — the hardships that would bother Americans would quickly begin to ease.

* When we traveled to Cuba, my husband forgot his bathing suit and searched all over Havana for one that came in XL. We tried the gift shop of a fancy hotel, where the saleswoman looked him over and giggled, “You are very fat.” Not an insult in a country where getting dessert on a regular basis means you’ve really made it!

Photo by Matthaisschack, used via Creative Commons license.