Where’s the Interest?

It has been a year since the US government eased its restrictions on travel to Cuba and according to a new survey by Allianz Global Assistance, Americans today are less interested in taking a trip to the country than they were in 2016.

The 2017 survey revealed that 40% of Americans would be interested in taking a trip to Cuba (2% fewer than in 2016) while the easing of travel restrictions made just 26% of Americans more interested in visiting the country (9% fewer than 2016).

However, 76% reported being unlikely to plan a trip to Cuba (6% more than 2016).

While safety concerns (38% in 2017/ 6% lower than in 2016) and fear of communist government (12% in 2017/ 3% lower than in 2016) were major anxieties for Americans in 2016, those worries appear to be weakening this year.

Instead, lack of information on Cuba’s travel experiences (22% in 2017/ 4% higher than in 2016), travel infrastructure (13% in 2017/ 1% higher than in 2016) and internet/mobile connectivity (9% in 2017/ 2% higher than in 2016) are the factors making Americans less interested and likely to travel to Cuba.

Resorts and beaches (32%/ 1% less than in 2016) remain the hot ticket items that would make Americans most interested and likely to travel to Cuba.

The survey also measured sentiment and discovered that 34% of Americans think Cuba has changed for the better because of as a result of the U.S. having eased travel restrictions to the country.

Daniel Durazo, director of communications at Allianz Global Assistance USA, observed, “Our survey found that merely 2% of Americans think they will go to Cuba in the next six months, 2% believe they will make it there by the end of 2017 and 10% think they will go sometime in 2018.”

For more, go to http://www.allianztravelinsurance.com.