Rob Sequin | Havana Journal

Dozens of domain name speculators rushed to register hundreds of Cuba related domain names on April 13 and the day after President Obama announced sweeping changes to US Cuba policy as a way to “invest” (speculate really) in the business opportunities that may present themselves under this new US Cuba policy.

The change allows for unlimited travel by Cuban Americans to visit their family in Cuba and the changes allow them to wire more money to relatives in Cuba. President Obama is also encouraging communications companies to establish a presence in Cuba to increase the flow of information among the Cuban people and to the outside world.

Many people have been hand registering Cuba related domains and purchasing them in the secondary market for many years. We have seen spikes in hand registrations when there have been significant Cuba news stories in the past.

Speculators and internet entrepreneurs see the ownership of Cuba domains to be one way to invest in Cuba without even having to step foot in the country. Cuba domains can be sold, parked for revenue or developed into successful online business models. This is one way to prepare for a post-Embargo post-Castro Cuba with limited downside risk since the cost of a hand registered Cuba related domain name is less than $10 at most registrars.

It is not illegal or in violation of any OFAC sanctions to own or develop any Cuba related domain name (with the exception of Cuba’s country code .cu domains). One may have “compliance issues” if a website generates revenue from a Cuba based business and there may be other restrictions with regards to business activity involving Cuban based entities and individuals. If a domain name is simply parked to show revenue or displays Google’s Adsense advertisements then there are no compliance issues. Seek legal advice if you have any questions with regards to your Cuba business model.

City, state, region, country and destination specific domain names are called “geo domains” and are well respected by people in the domain industry. Associated Cities is the trade organization for geodomains and their Geo Domain Expo starts on April 23.

Hand Registered Cuba Related Domains

Here is the list of Cuba related domain names that were registered on April 13 and 14 (courtesy of DomainTools.com Mark Alert). As you will see, some are decent domains and some are worthless in this author’s opinion. There are also some obvious trademark violation domains. The consensus in the domain industry is that the registration of TM violation domains is unethical and unwise.

aeroportocuba.com
aeropuertodecuba.com
att-cuba.com
avioncuba.com
boletosacuba.com
cash-2-cuba.com
cash-to-cuba.com
cayoscuba.com
cheapcubanflights.com
chicacuba.com
chicagotocuba.com
climacuba.com
credito-cuba.com
cuba-adventuretravel.com
cuba-condominiums.com
cuba-connect.com
cuba-mi-corazon.com
cuba247.net
cubaamerica.com
cubaatlast.com
cubabeachtrip.com
cubabiztravel.com
cubabiztravel.net
cubabiztravel.org
cubacommunication.org
cubacommunications.org
cubadivevacation.com
cubadivingvacation.com
cubaeasyrent.com
cubafunpackage.com
cubafuntravel.com
cubafuntravel.net
cubafuntravel.org
cubagals.com
cubagogo.com
cubaholidaying.com
cubahotelsvacation.com
cubaislandnation.com
cubaislandtravel.com
cubajetsetter.com
cubajetsetter.net
cubajetsetters.com
cubajetsetters.net
cubalibrefund.com
cubalibreventures.com
cubalibreventures.net
cubamazing.com
cubamazing.info
cubamazing.net
cubamexcocina.com
cubamost.com
cubamust.com
cuban-casino.com
cuban-trips.com
cubanadeviaje.com
cubanamericanfund.com
cubanamericantravels.com
cubanaqua.com
cubanbiketours.com
cubancoupons.com
cubandeepseafishing.com
cubandivevacations.com
cubanemployment.com
cubanfootball.com
cubangamefishing.com
cubanhunting.com
cubanmoneytransfer.com
cubanmoneytransfers.com
cubanoexpress.com
cubanoil.net
cubanpackages.com
cubanrealestatedirectory.com
cubanremittance.com
cubansummerhomes.com
cubantravelpackages.com
cubanvacationbargains.com
cubanventurefund.com
cubanwholesalers.com
cubanwireless.org
cubaoil.net
cubaonline-idee.org
cubarealestateguide.com
cubaregulations.com
cubaremittance.com
cubaretailers.com
cubasailingadventures.com
cubasailingadventures.info
cubasailingadventures.net
cubasailingadventures.org
cubatravelrestrictions.com
cubatropicana.com
cubavacationbargains.com
cubavacationtravel.com
cubavalues.com
cubavalues.info
cubavalues.net
cubavalues.org
cubaventurefund.net
cubawifi.org
cubawins.com
cubayoubet.com
cuncuba.com
cuncuba.info
cuncuba.net
dell-cuba.com
demforcuba.net
demforcuba.org
democracyforcuba.net
democracyforcuba.org
dialcuba.com
dineropacuba.com
dineropacuba.net
dollars2cuba.com
dollarstocuba.com
easycash2cuba.com
easycashtocuba.com
easymoney2cuba.com
easymoneytocuba.com
ezcash2cuba.com
ezcashtocuba.com
ezmoney2cuba.com
ezmoneytocuba.com
familyincuba.com
fastcash2cuba.com
fastcashtocuba.com
fastmoney2cuba.com
fastmoneytocuba.com
fish-cuba.com
flycubausa.com
flyusacuba.com
freedomtotraveltocuba.com
friendsincuba.com
ftlauderdaletocuba.com
getcash2cuba.com
getcashtocuba.com
getcubaonline.com
getrealcuba.com
gocheapcuba.com
havanacubatourism.com
holidayingcuba.com
howtocuba.com
hp-cuba.com
icuba.biz
iheartcuba.com
iluvcuba.com
llamarcuba.com
losangelestocuba.com
mappacuba.com
matchcuba.com
microsoft-cuba.com
mobiletocuba.com
money-2-cuba.com
money-to-cuba.com
moneytransfercuba.com
newarktocuba.com
newcubahotels.com
newcubalaws.com
newcubanhotels.com
newyorktocuba.com
nowcuba.com
nytocuba.com
officialcubanvisaapplication.com
officialcubanvisaapplication.net
officialcubanvisas.com
officialcubanvisas.net
perfumecuba.com
plongee-cuba.com
quickcash2cuba.com
quickcashtocuba.com
remit2cuba.com
remittancecuba.com
sanfranciscotocuba.com
scubadivecuba.com
seeyouincuba.com
sejour-plongee-cuba.com
sendcash2cuba.com
shipit2cuba.com
shipittocuba.com
sitesofcuba.com
sprint-cuba.com
stluciacuba.com
t-mobile-cuba.com
talkofcuba.com
telefonoacuba.com
televisioncubana.org
teveoencuba.com
toursacuba.com
transfercash2cuba.com
transfercashtocuba.com
transfermoney2cuba.com
transfermoneytocuba.com
travelcubavacations.com
uscubathaw.com
verizon-cuba.com
vistocuba.com
vuelveacuba.com
wirecash2cuba.com
wirecashtocuba.com
wiremoney2cuba.com
wiremoneytocuba.com

Havana Related Domains

airfarestohavana.com
airfaretohavana.com
bankofhavana.net
havanacubatourism.com
havanahavens.com
havanalifestyle.com
havanavacationpackage.com
havanayachting.com
mobiletohavana.com
myhavanahotel.com
talkofhavana.com
varaderohavana.com

Recent Havana Journal Inc Hand Registered Domains

CubanAmericanVacations.com
CubanFamilyTravel.com
CubanFamilyVacations.com
CubaTravelLicense.com
CubaTravelLicenses.com
CubaWireTransfer.com
CubaWireTransfers.com
FlightToHavana.com
GiftsToCuba.com
MoneyTransfersToCuba.com
TravelLicenses.com
TravelServiceProvider.com

Recent Havana Journal Inc. Purchases from the Secondary Market

CubanAmerican.com
CubanAmericans.com
HavanaRestaurant.com
HavanaReservations.com

Another Way to Invest in Cuba

I don’t want to offer stock tips or investment advice but since this article is about investing in Cuba without having to have a presence in Cuba or even having to visit Cuba, I thought I would mention that there is a closed end mutual fund that invests in businesses that are expected to benefit from better US Cuba trade relations and/or a move to a more free market economy in Cuba. The Herzfeld Caribbean Basin Fund trades like a stock on the NYSE under the symbol CUBA. The stock price shot up over 40% on April 13 but has pulled back a little since then. (Full disclosure: I have a financial interest in this stock.)

HavanaJournal.com Traffic Spike

Unique visitors (one visitor per IP address to a website in a 24 hour period) to HavanaJournal.com range from 1500 to 2500 per day. As you can see from the screen capture below, our traffic spiked on April 13 and 14. Time will tell if people will continue to search for Cuba related information that interests them or if traffic will level off.

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Havana Journal Inc. owns over 2500 Cuba related domain names and most are in development, being used as marketing tools to promote developed websites or are being considered as candidates for development. We are always looking for unique content and business partners.

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