Chicago based Orbitz has launched a website (www.opencuba.org/) to give Americans the opportunity to petition the U.S. Government to open up travel to Cuba.
OpenCuba.org, from Orbitz
Visitors to Orbitz are urged to visit the Open Cuba website and sign a petition calling for an end to the travel ban. The website also lets visitors write personal letters to President Obama, VP Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of Congress, urging them to ease the travel restrictions and sanctions against Cuba.
And to give their campaign some added heft, Orbitz also released the findings of a new Orbitz-Ipsos Poll. The poll shows that 67% of of all Americans favor ending the U.S. Government’s 50-year ban on travel to Cuba.
In a press statement, Barney Harford, president and CEO of Orbitz Worldwide, said that “President Obama recently took a bold step in easing travel restrictions for Cuban-Americans. The OpenCuba.org campaign calls on the President and Congress to take action to end the travel ban to Cuba, giving all Americans the freedom to visit what once was a premier tourist destination for U.S. citizens.”
Orbitz executives will formally present the aforementioned petition to U.S. officials in Washington, DC, later this year. Every person who signs the petition will receive a $100 coupon redeemable on Orbitz against a vacation to Cuba valid if and when the U.S. Government removes the ban on travel to Cuba, and as soon as Orbitz is able to offer such travel on its website.
And this is where Orbitz is mixing good business with politics. If the Obama Administration opens up Cuba, Orbitz can take credit for a successful lobbying campaign, and enjoy the rush of travelers booking packages to Cuba in order to redeem the $100 coupons.
If it doesn’t work (which seems more likely at this point), no harm done. Either way, by being at the forefront of this campaign, they get all the media publicity that is sure to follow in the next few days now and again when the petition is handed over to officials in Washington DC. Win-win situation for Orbitz.
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3 Responses
@Carrie – I’ve been reading what others have written about this, and while most evevryone seems to think it’s opportunistic, there’s also an undertone of – ‘Darn, wish we had done it.’ And I think it’s legal since Orbitz is a for-profit company.
There has always been such drama surrounding Cuba, I am happy that they have called for this and I hope that it all works out for them in the long run this place is a beautiful place to go.
[...] Harford and the day’s conversation had included talk about his company’s efforts to open travel to Cuba. It hasn’t happened yet, but I’m still pulling for the [...]