Cuba Travel News and Information
Press Release
With increased confidence in the Obama Administration to ease travel restrictions to Cuba for Cuban Americans, Cuba Travel Services, Inc. will be opening a new office in Hialeah, Florida. Cuba Travel Services, Inc. provides travel services for authorized Cuban Americans visiting family and other licensed travelers who qualify under the current U.S. Treasury regulations. Cuba Travel Services, Inc. will formally hold the grand opening of the new Hialeah office located at 522 Hialeah Drive on January 28th, 2009. Invited to attend is the Mayor of Hialeah, the Hon. Julio Robaina, and other respected members of the local community.
“We have decided to open a new office in the heart of Hialeah to better serve the people of this wonderful community,” said Michael Zuccato, General Manager of Cuba Travel Services, Inc. “In addition to Hialeah, we will be requesting OFAC’s approval for additional office locations in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Boston and Tampa.” Cuba Travel Services, Inc. operates under specific travel guidelines and criteria established by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Cuba Travel Services, Inc. is excited with the new White House Administration and the prospects of reshaping relations and making changes with Cuba beyond travel. In addition to servicing this large Florida constituency under OFAC guidelines, Cuba Travel Services, Inc. will be able to provide a more personal service to qualified passengers. In 2000, Cuba Travel Services, Inc. was the first charter company to offer direct flights from Los Angeles to Havana in more than 40 years. In 2001, Cuba Travel Services began chartering flights from Miami to Cienfuegos and later from Miami to Havana.
In 2003, the United States ranked 8th in visitors per country of origin to Cuba with 84,529 Cuban American visitors, dwindling down to 37,233 in 2005 under Bush Administration changes to the Cuba travel restrictions. This decision severely limited visits by Cuban Americans and prevented the continuation of the Los Angeles to Havana flights. Cuba Travel Services, Inc. is hopeful it will once again operate a direct “non-stop” flight from Los Angeles to Havana later this year.
Cuba Travel Services, Inc. has provided travel services for a variety of clients such as universities, religious groups, sports teams, research professionals and government officials, all authorized by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
In 2004, the Bush Administration further tightened the travel restrictions on Cuban Americans visiting family by limiting travel to once every three years and redefined the definition of family to exclude aunts, uncles and cousins. On the heels of the new White House Administration, Cuba Travel Services, Inc. is hopeful that humane policy changes will be implemented to re-allow Cuban Americans to once again visit their families with more frequency and discontinue to limit the definition of family, particularly as younger Cuban Americans are seeking to connect or reconnect with their families 90 miles off our coast.
Cuba Travel Services, Inc. was formed by a group of Los Angeles business professionals to specifically facilitate a better understanding between the U.S. and Cuba in providing convenient and cost-effective travel to U.S. citizens who qualify under the current U.S. Treasury regulations. Cuba Travel Services, Inc.’s headquarters are based in Long Beach, California, and currently have offices in Doral, Florida, and Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. Cuba Travel Services, Inc. also seeks to open additional offices in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Tampa and Boston within the coming year.
CONTACT: Media inquiries: Jean Paul Zapata CS Communications Tel: 818-788-4468 Fax: 818-788-4168
or Michael Zuccato at Cuba Travel Services, Inc. 1-800-963-2822 and
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Yes same old story: The term “qualified passengers” says it all.
Where is this “change” why is their this discrimination against the ordinary American citizen to travel freely????
I say if the Ordinary American citizen cannot freely travel to Cuba why should so-called Cuban-Americans be given the privilage?????
There are NO laws that prevent any AMERICAN CITIZEN to freely travel to Cuba! NONE whatsoever. The only law that exist is the one that prohibits an AMERICAN CITIZEN from spending US currency there. Please note the difference everyone.
There are many legal ways to freely enjoy the travel to Cuba and the best way is to have a family sponsor you while you are there. As long as you are not spending US currency there, they are paying for your visit using their own money.
Over 200,00 US CITIZENS freely travel to Cuba each year and this is totally legal as long as you DO NOT SPEND US currency there. Read the fine lines between prohibit and illegal.
texasfree,
You are correct but there is a $20 exit fee and if the government asks, you will have to provide a self incriminating report to prove that you did not spend any money.
Also, I don’t think the 200k figure is right for the past few years. I am pretty sure it was under 100k last year.
Signature:
This is my signature - get yours in Your Control Panel. Go ahead and add a link to your site. Self promotion is permitted as long as it is beneficial to our community.
I have traveled there and there are NO $20 exit fee, trust me and no self-incriminating documents are ever distributed as the Cuban Government wishes not to cause problems for any tourist, especially American. They treat you in the most favorable way since Raul took over. They even asked me if I was American and asked me to skip the line and allowed me to pass over 30 people in line to pay for their weight luggage 
The figure had dropped, you are right only because the US Govt uses scare tactics to assist in scaring Americans from their natural born right to travel freely anywhere in the world according to the US Constitution.
The more Americans use their right the less this problem will exist. Worse case scenario, one may be given a fine but guess what? The US Govt. no longer has a court for this area in DC to process the cases, interesting huh? All verbal bs and anyway, things are about to change but in the interim, I encourage all Americans to obtain their licenses via Washington DC and if not, then keep the faith and travel abroad.
How could I obtain the form to apply for the License to travel to Cuba. I am a Cuban -american wanted to visit my closed relatives
How would i get to go to Cuba legally with my boat?
