International Convention of Tourist Studies
Jul 11 - 15, 2010
Havana Convention Center
Havana, Cuba
Members of the International Advisory Committee are:
- James Deegan, PhD. Manager of the National Centre of Tourist Policy Studies, University of Limerick, Ireland
- Germán Sierra Anaya, PhD. Rector of the University of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
- Jesús Felipe Gallego, PhD. Professor of the Master Program of Hotel Management of the Polytechnic University of Madrid, and Enterprise Consultant, Spain
Cuba is becoming a prime destination in the Caribbean with 2.4 million visitors last year.
Specialists in travel and tourism from all countries but the US can choose to attend as they would any other professional gathering. American participation is hampered by regulations seeking to forbid Cuban organized academic conferences. The rules were promulgated in 2004 by the Bush Administration for reasons of domestic politics and have not yet been modified by President Obama.
According to the Washington Post, the White House had been "expected to further loosen remaining travel restrictions for all Americans" in April 2009. The Hill newspaper reported more specifically that the original intent was to "allow U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba for cultural, academic and humanitarian purposes", but only unlimited Cuban American family reunion visits were authorized to avoid a battle with Cuban-American Senator Robert Menendez (D, NJ).
If the Administration does not finish the job by permitting all educational travel soon enough, qualified Americans can legally visit Cuba for purposes of full time professional research under a general license that does not require application. Details are available upon request from [email protected].
Legislation in the US Congress (HR 4645, S 3112) that will finally restore to all Americans the right to visit legally has a reasonable chance of passage this summer. Recent polls report that 61 to 67% of Americans favor the end of restrictions on travel to Cuba and 33 to 38% wish to make the journey themselves. Estimates are that 500,000 to one million US citizens will go in the first year after the ban is lifted and the numbers will grow substantially and quickly.